


Pretty Boy (You Make Me Want To Live)

by disnechanted



Category: Frank Iero and the Patience, Gerard Way and the Hormones, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Bandom - Freeform, Fluff, Frerard, M/M, frerard fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:09:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 37,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24038668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disnechanted/pseuds/disnechanted
Summary: After moving away from his parents to go to Uni, Frank Iero finds himself in a group house with four other people.Although, he doesn't make friends quickly, or easily; his anxieties usually getting in the way and making him stutter out any replies he manages to give.But then he meets someone; mysterious man, while sat on a park bench in the local park at two am.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	1. Frank Iero

Frank tugged at the soft pastel pink sweater he was wearing, pulling the sleeves to cover his hands, twisting his feet under him as he fidgeted nervously in front of his mirror. Was it too much? Nah, he could look after himself if need be.

He checked his alarm clock, 1:30am, before leaving his room and slipping out of his front door, being careful to not wake his sleeping housemates. He locked the door behind him and walked away, passing under the orange glowing streetlights. 

He hadn't really planned on going anywhere that night, but his insomnia kept him up, and his thoughts had started to suffocate him while he just lay doing nothing in his bed. A noise pulled him from his thoughts and Frank looked up - a group of drunks were stood under a streetlight, laughing loudly between themselves. He crossed his arms across his chest and sped up slightly, but that didn't stop the insults and satirical cat-calls being hurled at him as he passed by them.

He hurried on past, not looking back at the men, and soon found himself at the New Jersey State Park. He settled down on the first bench he found, looking around him to check there was no one else there, pulling his legs up onto the bench and crossing them and folding them in his lap, relaxing and letting his eyes flutter shut.

The scene itself was quite serene. A very feminine presenting boy, sat on a park bench - where someone had probably been murdered - at almost two am, a pink bow clipped into his hair and not a fleeting care in the world.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" A voice whispered huskily into Frank's ear. Frank flinched, tensing slightly and his hand curled around his keys tightly, but he didn't move.

"Thanks, but I'm not a girl." He replied, pointedly dodging the question as it was one he'd rather not answer, for obvious reasons - previously explained - and wasn't about to spill all his worries and his doubts to a complete stranger.

"Shit, my bad, I just assumed-"

"Yeah yeah, it's okay, I get it, you aren't the first by any means." Frank shrugged the man's apologies off, brazenly waving his hand through the cool air, relaxing slightly and opening his eyes again.

"Aren't you scared, or, I don't know... worried? That I'm gonna do something to you?"

"Well," Frank started, "I assumed that if you were going to do something, then you probably would have done it by now, I mean you've been standing behind me for-" he checked his dainty wristwatch, "four minutes and thirty two seconds now."

The man fell silent, standing straighter, but still leaning on the back of the bench where Frank was sat and Frank could feel the flimsy wood bending under the pressure. Even though the man had leant back, Frank could still smell the faint lingering presence of aftershave that he seemed to be wearing, and decided that he liked it. 

"You're peculiar, I like you." The man whispered huskily, and with that, he was gone. Frank leant back against the splintering wood again, shivering involuntarily in the cool air and pulled his sleeves over his palms again, looking around himself before climbing off the bench, flattening his black skirt under his hands, smoothing out the crumples and walking away from the park bench, heading for the exit.

He paused for a second, hearing what sounded like running footsteps behind him, and turned to look over his shoulder, but saw nothing, just the gloomy black trees standing out against the distant New York skyline.

He sighed, continuing towards the exit and opting to take a different route home, wanting to avoid the drunks. 

Frank stopped again, holding his breath and standing impossibly still. He could've sworn he had heard footsteps again, but they had stopped as soon as he had, and again when he turned to look, there was no one there, no shadows lurking under the dim glow of the streetlamps, and no dodgy people sulking behind him.

He pushed the key into his front door, opening it quietly and letting himself in, pressing it closed just as softly being careful to not wake any of his housemates, locking the door behind him as he did so. He gently placed his keys down on the sideboard in the hallway before creeping upstairs on his tiptoes, only stepping at the very edges of the stairs where he knew they wouldn't creak and slipped into his room, closing the door and leaning back against it with a sigh as he did so, his head tilting back and his eyes fluttered closed. 

After a couple of minutes, he pushed away from his door and stripped of his clothes, dropping them into his laundry basket and slipping under the duvet into his bed, pulling the soft fabric all the way up to his chin and closing his eyes again.

As soon as he did so, his dreams were filled with the man that had spoken to him at the park.


	2. Visiting Again

Frank awoke with a start. He let out an involuntary sigh as he glanced over to his alarm clock, finding that it was 6:43am. Time to get up for school then.

He rolled over, sitting at the edge of his bed for a moment while the dizziness cleared from his head before standing up and wandering over to his closet, sifting though his clothes and eventually pulling out a tight-fitted royal blue cropped top and a pair of full length black dungarees and setting the clothes on his bed.

He took a shower, humming to himself as he ran his hands through his hair and scrubbed a strawberry scented shower-gel over his body, thinking about the events of the night. The least he could say was that he was curious about this man. He didn't even know what the guy looked like!

Frank dried himself off, wrapping his towel around him like a cloak and running back to his room, hoping that none of his housemates had woken up yet, although his hopes were dashed when Jamia walked out of her room and the two collided, Frank almost dropping his towel out of surprise.

"Oh! Frank, g'mornin'" Jamia croaked hoarsely, obviously showing that she'd only just woken up.

"H-hi Jamia." Frank nodded with an awkward smile and hurried off around her, returning to the safety of his room. He had just started his first year of University and had opted to rent a house along with a group of other first-years. He had been there almost two weeks - along with the rest of them - and still only knew two out of the four of their names.

Well, that was a lie, he learnt all their names before he'd even moved in, but panicked when any of them approached him and momentarily forgot. Hell, the young adult had even gone out of his way to friend everyone he lived with on Facebook so he knew something about them.

He pulled on a clean pair of underwear and socks before tugging the tight denim up his legs, slipping the top over his head and fastening the buckles on his dungarees. He glanced at himself in the mirror, smiling a little at his appearance and moved across to the small vanity in his room, rifling through the drawers to find a royal blue bow clip to match his outfit.

He twirled in his mirror, a small giggle escaping his lips. Frank grabbed a lip-gloss off his vanity and spread it across his lips, grinning into the mirror again.

He turned back to his bed, picking up his backpack - that he had dumped at the end of his bed the previous afternoon - and dropped it onto his bed, grabbing his timetable from the front pocket and checking which lectures he had that day. He smiled and mentally fist-bumped himself when he realised he only had one.

He checked his clock again, it had 7.30 now, a good time to leave. He grabbed his bag, slipping it over his shoulders and slipping his feet into his very worn out black converse. The shoes were bound to break any day soon, but that didn't stop Frank from wearing them everywhere, with everything.

As he left his room and walked down the stairs, his mind wandered to his little park bench meetups. The man had been on his mind an awful lot lately, especially this past week since he had first 'met' - if that's what you'd call it - the guy.

"Hey! Frank! You want anything to eat?" A voice called from the kitchen as Frank tried to sneak past, but his attempts were foiled and he turned around to face an overly-smiley housemate.

"I made pancakes and bacon, there's some syrup on the table." Maxx grinned holding out a plate to Frank.

The smaller male took the plate and seated himself at the table, Maxx joining him seconds later sitting on the opposite side of the table and tucking into the small stack of pancakes he had already piled onto his plate. Frank followed the blonde's lead and took a pancake for himself, drizzling syrup over it before cutting it carefully with his knife and fork.

"So," Maxx started, pausing to swallow his mouthful, "How are you? You got up early this morning."

"I'm good." Frank gave a small smile, glancing up at Maxx momentarily before looking down at his pancake again.

"Yeah? That's good. Who do you have today?" Maxx asked, clearly trying to start a conversation with Frank.

"Uhh... Mr Toro I think, you?"

"You mean Ray, right? I have him too! At ten." Maxx grinned over at Frank, taking a gulp of coffee before forcing some more of his pancakes into his mouth.

"Oh! You do? I never saw you at his before?"

"Yeah, I always sit right at the back, but you sit near the front, right? Like on the second or third row?"

"Yeah." Frank gave Maxx a genuine smile, his eyes crinkling slightly as he did so before returning his attention to his pancake and finishing it off.

\----------

The day passed quickly and all too soon Frank was lying on his bed - on top of his duvet still fully dressed - staring at his ceiling and wondering why he wasn't tired yet. He let out a long sigh and turned his head so he could see his alarm clock. It was almost 2am.

He rolled over and slid out of bed, pulling his black converse on again. Was he really about to do this? Yes, absolutely.

He turned the handle of his door slowly, sneaking out of his room, down the stairs and out of the house, pausing before pulling the front door closed to check he hadn't woken anyone up. He locked the door and leant back against it for a second, taking a deep inhale of the cool air.

He stood up again, heading towards the park, just letting his feet carry him away from his room. Anywhere away from there was better than being trapped.

He soon found himself seated on the rotting park bench, one foot tucked up under him and the other swinging idly beneath the bench, occasionally brushing against the ground.

"Thought you weren't gonna come today." A husky voice murmured from behind him, and Frank felt the backrest of the bench bend under the other man's weight as he leant down against it.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Dunno, thought yesterday might've been a one-off or something." The man said, and Frank felt the bench move slightly as the man - presumably - shrugged.

"Why?"

"You don't seem like the type to be taking midnight walks to the murder park on a regular, if I'm honest."

"Fair enough, fair enough." Frank sighed, the man wasn't exactly wrong, but this was the only bench he knew of that was outside his house and no more than a ten minute walk.

The pair fell silent again and Frank let out another breath, watching as it swirled away into the inky blackness.

"You heard that Black Flag are touring?" The man suddenly asked, leaning closer and Frank heard him shuffle around slightly and could see the man's hands appear next to him, so could tell that the man had leant onto his forearms on the bench.

"Yeah, I did, I can't go though." Frank muttered sadly, looking down at his lap and shifting as he realised his leg had gone to sleep under him.

"Oh? Why?"

"Don't have enough money, aren't the tickets like fifty quid? And if I wanted to go I'd have to go with a friend and none of my friends like them, so I'd have to pay for their ticket too..."

"Oh... I'm sorry." The man said, standing up again. Part of Frank had hoped that maybe the man would offer to go with him, but another part was glad that the man wasn't trying to do anything, they'd known - if that's what you'd call it - each other for barely a day.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure they'll be back soon anyway." Frank gave a weak smile into the darkness and leant back against the bench. He could just feel the man's fists either side of his torso and his head brushed against the man's chest, or it might've been his jacket, Frank didn't know, he couldn't actually see the man, remember?

"Yeah I'm sure they will." The man agreed and Frank could feel his hands flexing around the splintering wood behind him, as if he were debating on leaving or not.


	3. Take Me Home

Frank groaned.

Yet again, he was lying wide awake in his bed at some ungodly hour of the morning. Looks like he was going back to the park.

He had met up with the man every night of the past week, who always appeared at exactly the same time without fail, no matter how late or early Frank was, leading Frank to believe that the man had a schedule that he followed or something. Every night at 2:14am the man would appear, the pair would have a short conversation, and then the man would disappear.

Frank had developed a kind of security blanket around this man and knowing that he would turn up at the same time. The man would just talk to him, they didn't engage in anything personal, and that's how Frank liked it, it was a way to take his mind off things, whilst simultaneously creating himself a friendship.

But when Frank arrived at the park there was already someone waiting on his bench. They - he had bright red hair, styled up into a mohawk. He was wearing a black sleeveless jacket with patches dotted all over it, and there were studs running around the seams and edges, giving Frank an overly punk vibe from the man. He also had many tattoos lingering over his arms and it looked like - but Frank wasn't entirely sure because of the shadowy lighting - that he also had some on his neck.

Frank moved closer, standing only a meter or two away from the man, which was when he realised that this was the guy who kept coming to talk to him every night.

"You're peculiar, I like you." Frank whispered into the man's ear, leaning forwards, and he jumped, spinning around and holding Frank down on the bench by his throat.

"This is nice and all but I don't have a choking kink, sorry to disappoint," Frank forced out, the pressure on his trachea becoming overwhelming and he could feel how lightheaded he was... how close he was to passing out.

"Shit, sorry - pretty boy!" The man cursed before realising who it was that he'd almost choked to death.

"That's me." Frank let out a breath giving a throaty cough. He was still lying against the seat of the bench and the red-haired man sat back down next to him, peering down with curious eyes.

"Y'know, this is the first time I've seen your face."

"I would hope so." Frank retorted, a wry smirk appearing on his features.

"Keep up like this and I'll actually choke you."

"Oh really?" Frank hummed, the man was harmless, really. If he had wanted to seriously hurt Frank, he would have done it by now, but he hadn't, and that said something about him.

The man was silent. He looked up, his gaze falling on an old swing set and Frank followed his gaze, smiling lightly when he saw what the other man was looking at.

"Y'know," Frank started, and the man's attention snapped back to him, "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Why do you want it?"

"So I can turn you in to the cops, duh." Frank said, the smirk appearing on his face again. The man frowned, looking away.

"Geez, that's not why I want it, it's cause I just wanna know your damn name dude." Frank laughed lightly, holding his hand up in the air, well, it ended up being only a centimeter or so off the bench, but had moved from where they had been folded on his stomach up to near his head. The man turned back to look at Frank, a confused expression across his face when he glanced from Frank's hand, then back to Frank.

"For you to shake if you ever tell me your name-"

"Oh, I'm Gerard." The man said, slipping his hand into Frank's and shaking it lightly before letting go. He had surprisingly soft hands, and a very delicate shake, which Frank couldn't say that he'd expected.

"I'm Frank-"

"Well okay Frankie, I wanna show you some places, that alright with you?"

"My name isn't Fran-"

"I don't care." Gerard cut him off, and Frank blushed. He actually didn't mind being called Frankie, he just wanted to see how Gerard would react to Frank going against him.

"Fine, I'll go." Frank grumbled, pushing himself up into sitting position.

"Great!- I mean- uh, cool, I guess." Gerard said excitedly, before regaining his composure and acting like he didn't care.

"Awe is someone excited that I said yes?" Frank teased as he stood up, tapping Gerard's nose lightly, who batted his hand away with a scowl, but didn't deny it - it was too late for that now anyway.

"So," Frank started, "where'd'ya wanna take me?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Mhmm? Sounds a lot like something a murderer would say." Frank hummed.

"You're just asking to be killed now; this is the second time you've joked about me killing you tonight, are you sure you aren't a masochist?" Gerard chuckled.

Frank went silent and blushed heavily, looking away from Gerard with a small frown. He knew Gerard was just teasing him, but that didn't make him feel any less embarrassed about it.

"Aw, baby, I didn't mean to upset you." Gerard spoke, wrapping his arm around Frank's waist as he feigned remorse.

"Fuck off." Frank spat, glaring at the ground. Gerard was really irritating him now, why on earth did he agree to go anywhere with this man?

"Now now, I don't think that's fitting language." Gerard spoke - a borderline growl escaping his lips, gripping Frank's arm tighter and stopping him from going anywhere.

"Let go of me!" Frank forced out as he tried to pry Gerard's hand off him as the taller male guided him out of the park.

"No, because as much as I'm irritating you right now, you're going to love what I'm going to show you, okay?"

Frank stopped struggling. He trusted Gerard to the point he hoped he wouldn't try to kill Frank, But that didn't stop Frank from being annoyed with him.

"Thank you."

Frank grumbled unhappily but let Gerard lead him away from the park. They walked in near silence, only on the odd occasion Gerard would point out a landmark or a shop he particularly liked.

"Okay," Gerard said finally, letting his hand slip from where it was around Frank's waist and letting his hand rest on Frank's ass for a second, "we're here."

"But there's nothing here-"

"Ah-ah." Gerard tutted, "follow me." And he walked over to the ledge, swinging his feet over the side and then turning to step onto something.

Frank caught the idea pretty quickly, there was a ladder running down the wall to the docks, one that Gerard was planning on making him climb down.

He followed Gerard down the wall, groaning and rolling his eyes when Gerard howled.

"Don't make me climb back up-" Frank warned, stopping on the ladder and moving his hand back up one rung, and Gerard immediately stopped.

Of course Frank had chosen this day to wear his favourite black skater dress, one that pinched in at the waist, giving him more feminine curves, along with a pair of converse, fishnets and a loose cardigan, hanging just off his shoulders.

And under all that? A pair of women's lacy underwear, hiding absolutely nothing.

When Frank felt his feet touch down against the wooden deck, he turned to Gerard, who was looking away and chewing nervously on his lip.

"What?" Frank asked, wondering what could have induced Gerard's sudden change in attitude. The quiet, almost reclusive behaviour standing out against his usually flirty, boisterous and uncaring nature. Gerard looked up at Frank from where he was sitting, but looked away again quickly, a blush spreading across his face.

"Did you- Oh my god you didn't- did you?" Franks voice dropped to a panicked whisper when he realised that from where Gerard was sat, he had had basically a perfect view up Frank's skirt, meaning he would have been able to see anything and everything.

Gerard nodded, refusing to look at Frank.

"I'm sorry.."

"It's fine, I'm sure you didn't mean to." Frank said sincerely, Gerard obviously felt uncomfortable, maybe because of what Frank was wearing, maybe because he felt he shouldn't have seen that part of Frank, but what's done is done, and cannot be undone.

"Are you sure?" Gerard asked, turning towards Frank again, but still not looking at him.

Frank nodded,

"Of course, it's fine, like I said, I'm sure you didn't mean to."

"Okay..."

"Seriously, Gerard, it's okay, I don't mind, I'm sure you were bound to find out some time anyways." Frank said, forcing Gerard to look at him.

"Don't touch me." Gerard growled, twisting his head away with a disgusted look.

Frank looked down at the ground, pulling his skirt over his thighs.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to ups-" Frank whispered, but was cut off by Gerard again.

"Shut it."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Gerard hissed, but brought his hands to his face, rubbing across it as if he were stressed or anxious.

"I don't believe you." Frank said, slowly shuffling closer to Gerard, making him look up in confusion. From where Gerard was sat cross-legged, Frank moved, hooking his legs over Gerard's, wrapping his arms around the punk-male's shoulders and pressing his head in against Gerard's neck, inhaling the musky scent lightly, then blushing and praying that Gerard didn't notice.

Gerard sat stiffly, as if he was fighting to not push Frank off him. He didn't - push Frank off him that is - but he also didn't react, or pull Frank closer to him.

Frank sighed, squeezing Gerard lightly before loosening his hold almost completely, letting his arms drop to the punk's waist and turning his head, following Gerard's gaze out across the docks.


	4. Resistance

For the few nights following that, they followed a routine, Gerard would show up before Frank, then they would both head down to the docks and sit there for a couple of hours. They didn't talk as much, but when they did, they were deep and interesting conversations; and - as Frank had found - Gerard had a particular interest for philosophical questions. Frank could listen to Gerard talk for hours if he wanted to.

"Does a set of all sets contain itself?" Frank asked, knowing full well that this conversation might take up the majority of their night.

"Do you want a direct answer or...?"

"No."

"Well technically, yes, because it's a set of all sets, so everything everywhere has to be contained, including itself, despite the fact it's doing the containing-"

"But it also can't, because how can something contain itself?"

Gerard frowned, looking out across the water, going silent as he thought.

"Well that's why it's a philosophical question, right?" He finally said, looking over to Frank with a small smile.

"I guess." Frank giggled, shuffling himself slightly closer to Gerard, his hand ghosting over the top of Gerard's from where it was resting on the wooden pontoon, but he quickly pulled it back to rest in his lap where his other was when Gerard flinched away.

The pair fell silent again, the conversation disappointingly short - for Frank at least anyway.

"Y'know, I never caught what your pronouns are." Gerard said softly.

"I go by anything, I don't really mind to be honest," Frank shrugged, turning to look over at Gerard, "Never really gave any thought to it i guess."

"Okay." Gerard said, "Do you have any that you prefer over the others or do you really just not care at all?"

Frank sat for a moment thinking, "Why the sudden interest in my gender?"

"Dunno, was just wondering." Gerard shrugged, finally looking back at Frank.

"How about you?" Frank asked, brushing off Gerard's question entirely. He had no idea himself, he was masc, with a fem expression, but didn't think the term 'non-binary' fit him.

"Pronouns are he or they."

"Oh." Frank breathed out, he had just assumed that Gerard was male, well - biologically he was, but in his mind? not so much.

"What? Didn'tcha expect that?"

"No it's just-" Frank trialed off.

"Just what?"

"Nothing, it's nothing..." Frank sighed, "I just thought that you were a guy y'know-"

"Are you saying I'm not?"

"No! No, I-"

"Chill, babe, I was just messin' with you." Gerard chuckled at Frank's flustered state.

"Oh..." Frank blushed, looking down at his lap, fiddling with the hem of his skirt. The pair fell silent again, Frank trapped in his own thoughts and Gerard exploring the view in front of him. Frank almost jumped forty feet in the air when Gerard suddenly leant against him and hung his arm across Frank's shoulders, bringing the smaller boy closer to him.

Frank blushed again, but leant against Gerard's side, tilting his head lightly to rest on Gerard's shoulder as he looked out over the docks.

"Can I say something crazy?" Gerard asked quietly.

"I swear to god if you fucking start quoting frozen on me I'm actually going to strangle you." He then quickly added in a low tone.

Frank snorted loudly, breaking down into giggles and he pressed his face into Gerard's chest trying to soften them. He could feel Gerard tense up again at the unexpected movement, but didn't move.

"Something crazy then, huh?" Frank asked softly once he had calmed down a bit.

"Yeah... I- promise you won't freak out on me?" Gerard cut himself off, looking down at Frank after resting his head on the punk's shoulder again. Frank just shrugged and mumbled something about how it depends what it is.

"Okay, I, um, I like you, Frank." Gerard whispered, so quietly that Frank thought he had misheard the punk under the soft sound of the tide against the harbor wall.

Frank's head shot up and he looked at Gerard with a wide-eyed expression.

"You- Me? I-" Frank stuttered, moving away from Gerard, "I'm sorry, I- I've gotta go, I, uh, I need to go feed my dog-" He forced out the shitty excuse, stumbling to his feet before turning and climbing up the ladder and disappearing from Gerard's sight.

He ran all the way back home, only stopping to catch his breath when he was lying face down on his bed again. But before his breathing was back to normal, sobs were wracking through his body and he shook against his soft pink duvet, his body barely keeping up with the dramatic changes of emotion.

This was exactly what he didn't want to happen. He always ended up dating guys then they always broke his heart and he didn't want to deal with it anymore. Granted Gerard didn't know how emotionally vulnerable he was, but that didn't stop Frank from being so worried about their strange relationship.

But Frank was mentally arguing with himself, because none of his relationships had started out as a friendship, all the men he had been with had always wanted something more, right from the start, which set Gerard apart from all the rest.

And Gerard, although he could be a bit overwhelming at times, he didn't mean any harm to Frank. He was clearly capable of overpowering Frank, and easily could have done on their first night of meeting, but didn't, which again set him apart from all the rest.

He eventually fell into a light sleep, waking up multiple times during the three hours he actually got to rest before waking up at almost 6 am. He had tried to get back to sleep, knowing that he didn't actually have to get up until 7, but he couldn't - no matter how hard he tried, or how tired he was - just couldn't get back to sleep.

He groaned quietly to himself, rolling over onto his front and folding his arms under his head, staring up at the sky, glad for once that the window was positioned over his bed. It was still dark outside, but the sun was rising, and he could see it getting lighter by the minute.

The birds beginning to chirp outside only distracted him momentarily before Gerard was on his mind again. What was he going to do? Frank had to admit, he really liked Gerard too, and he liked to be able to just chat, and laugh, and sometimes cuddle with him, and if he got himself into a relationship then that might change, and Frank didn't want that.

Frank rolled over again, starfishing out on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. He weighed out the options, the pros and the cons. He could go back and see Gerard, but he didn't want an awkward or tense air around them, but he wanted to see Gerard again. Frank was completely torn, but eventually decided that he'd go back again that night - or tomorrow morning, however you want to look at it.

He decided that he'd never know where Gerard wanted to go with their relationship if he never saw the other man again.

There was a soft knock at the door pulling him from his thoughts and Jamia slowly peaked her head round, smiling tiredly when she saw Frank looking right back at her.

"Do you wanna use the shower before me? I know you like your early morning privacy." She gave a quiet chuckle.

Frank smiled back, well it was nice to know that his housemate was thinking of him.

"Yes, thanks... now?" He asked.

"If that's okay, I've gotta be places today too y'know." She smiled, rubbing her face and yawning.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I'll, um, I'll be out in ten minutes or so, that okay?" Frank asked sitting up in his bed, looking around his room for a change of clothes.

"Yeah, that's cool." And with that, Jamia left. Frank jumped out of bed, running across the room to his closet and pulling out a pair of low cut black skinny jeans and a band shirt - that was probably too small for him - and throwing them on his bed before pulling his door closed behind him and speed-walking to the bathroom.

He showered relatively quickly, shaving away the light stubble in the bathroom mirror, being pulled from his thoughts when he heard a frantic knock at the door, he hadn't been that long already had he? He pulled his towel around himself tightly and hurrying back to his room, squeezing past Jamia, who made a strange, choked up kind of noise and pushed into the bathroom before Frank could question her. Frank pressed his door closed before anyone saw him, not letting go of the towel until he had a clean pair of underwear in his hands.

Looks like its a masc day today dude.

He thought to himself, pulling the soft fabric up his legs then dropping the towel to the floor and turning back to his bed. He tugged his skinny jeans on, slipping a belt through the loops, but failing to bother to actually tighten it, which he knew would mean that his jeans would slip halfway down his ass, but at this point he was too tired to care.

He pulled on his shirt, smiling slightly when he realised it was a black flag one and moved over to the mirror, patting down his hair to try make somewhat acceptable before giving up and pulling a cap off the top of his shelf and shoving it on his head.

"Breakfast's ready!" He heard Maxx call up the stairs, to which he rushed out of his room. Maxx, as intimidating as he seemed, was actually a massive softie, he kind of reminded Frank of Gerard, but toned down about ten notches from the red-haired punk who constantly seemed to be on his mind.

"Whoa, dude, you actually look... like a dude today!" Maxx joked once Frank appeared in the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess." Frank shrugged, before giggling... then giggling a bit more.

"Penny for your thoughts dude?" Maxx asked, a light smile on his face as he put down a plate with french toast and a slice of bacon on it in front of Frank.

"It's nothing, It- I- I thought the same thing earlier when I was getting dressed... found it amusing y'know?"

Maxx bobbed his head lightly, seeing what Frank meant.

The pair soon finished their breakfast, washing off the plates and slotting them into the dishwasher - the last person down had to put the dishwasher on was the general rule.

"So; school then?" Maxx asked, standing up, which was when Frank let out another loud giggle.

"Yeah... you - you-" Frank laughed, not being able to get the words out, and instead resorting to just pointing at Maxx's legs.

"I- wha- Oh fuck-" Maxx blushed a violent shade of red realising that he had - in fact - forgotten to put any pants on, and was standing there in his underwear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a bit of a longer chapter :,)) hope u enjoyed (also what do we think abt Frank's reaction to Gerard? I'm curious, do you think he was in the wrong to run from the situation or was it the right thing to do for him then? Should he go back and try to find Gerard?)


	5. Hysteria

Before long Frank found himself sneaking out of the house again, creeping out of his bedroom and pulling the door shut behind him with a soft click.

"Frank?" A soft voice called out and he looked up, spotting Jamia sitting up, cross-legged on her bed. He sighed, but made his way across the hallway, he was already late as it was, let alone if Jamia was going to question where he was going at 2 am. But all his worries were swept aside as he approached the girl, sitting down on her bed.

Her cheeks were stained with tears, and Frank could tell - even in the dim light - how blotchy her skin looked, and the wet patches on the long sleeves of her nightie.

"Oh, Jamia, are you okay? What's wrong?" Frank asked quietly, moving to rest his hand on her thigh in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

"I- I, it's nothing, you can go back to bed, I- I'm sorry for waking you, it's stupid." She choked out, clearly trying to not break down in tears.

"No, Jamia..." Frank sighed, wrapping his arm around her, "I know we don't know each other too well, but I'm here for you yeah? You can trust me."

"I- It's- Pro-omise you won't freak out?" She questioned, looking up at Frank with wide eyes.

"I'll try not to." Frank gave a comforting smile.

"I-I-I- I'm pr-pre-" She stuttered out before breaking down, leaning into Frank's hold, crying quietly against his chest.

"Hey, shh, shh, I've got you." He whispered, patting her shoulder gently. She continued crying for a minute or so more, before pointing a shaky finger towards her trash can, which looked to be empty. Frank looked down at Jamia before standing up and peering into the mesh basket, his mouth dropping when he saw a three pregnancy tests in it.

"I- You're - you- you're pregnant?" He stuttered out, looking back up to Jamia, who had rolled back onto the bed, curled into a fetal position, her knees hugged up against her chest.

Frank's face broke out into a smile,

"Oh, Jamia, that- that's amazing! Wow, I-" Frank breathed, moving to sit next to Jamia again, rubbing up and down her back to try and calm her.

"But I can't afford to have a baby! I'm 19, I- I'm not ready, Frankie, I don't wanna be a mom." Jamia cried softly into her pillow as Frank continued his attempts to comfort her.

He eventually realised that she had fallen asleep, but was clutching onto his hand like it was her lifeline, and he really couldn't pry himself from her grasp, so opted for lying down next to her, his arm draped over her waist to where his hand was being kept a captive.

\---------

"Breakfast's ready!" Frank heard the familiar voice call the next morning, and found himself rolling over away from... another person?

The memories quickly came rushing back to him and he stroked Jamia's face out of her hair gently, a small smile on his face as he did so.

"Frank?" Maxx called, and Frank heard his bedroom door open, "Fraank?" Maxx sang, turning and spotting Frank lying on Jamia's bed.

"Ooh- Ooh- ooh, what's gone on here?" Maxx smirked, winking - badly - at Frank as he leant against the doorframe.

"I- uh... I-"

"Chill dude, you're both fully dressed I know nothing happened, plus my room is right next door, you'd think I would have heard if you guys were in here having fun without me." Maxx grinned, a slight smirk slipping in again at the end.

Frank rolled his eyes but sat up, rubbing a hand across his face and letting out a tired yawn. Wait-

Frank's eyes widened as he realised he hadn't gone to the park last night. Gerard probably thought he was a right dick. Fuck, Gerard, Gerard-

"Dude? You okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Frank shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts from his head.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He said, "Just remembered something s'all."

"Okay..." Maxx nodded, pushing away from the door, not sounding sure, "Well, breakfast is ready when you are."

Frank pulled himself away from Jamia, pulling her door closed behind him before shuffling downstairs after the blonde-haired boy.

Sorry its so short,, i couldnt really stick it to another chapter tho so y'all will have to deal :)


	6. Starlight

Frank sat swinging his legs off the familiar park bench, a certain weight about his heart. He had arrived at almost 1 am, earlier than usual, and it was now nearing 3am, which meant that if Gerard was coming, then he should have turned up by now, which he hadn't.

He let out a sigh, leaning back against the bench and pulling his legs up to his chest, closing his eyes for a second. He sat up again, glancing around him one last time before standing up, picking up his phone that had been laying on the bench besides him. He patted down his pockets, smiling to himself when he found a twenty pound note.

He looked around again, just to be sure that Gerard wasn't anywhere around before leaving the park, ambling along until he neared the convenience store.

He pushed open the door, making his way over to the counter offering the cashier a tired smile.

"A pack of cigs please."

"ID?"

Frank lifted up his phone, where the ID card was kept for safekeeping and showed it to the cashier.

"That'll be £11.50 please."

Frank slid the note across the counter, pulling the small cardboard box towards him. He'd tried to quit, he really had, but stress had gotten the better of him and he was back again for another box.

He pocketed his change before heading back to the park, holding a brisk walk in the hopes that he might see Gerard again, but his hopes were dashed when he arrived back and the place was as empty as ever.

He curled up on the bench again, pulling the small packet from his pocket and taking one of the small papery sticks from it, carefully placing the packet back in his pocket, balancing the cigarette between his lips as he fished in a different pocket for his lighter, something he always seemed to have on him, despite having allegedly quit smoking.

He flicked his lighter on, cupping his spare hand around the tip of the cigarette, holding the small flame near and took in a deep breath, immediately feeling himself calm down. He held the thin stick between his first two fingers, bringing it up to his lips and occasionally taking a breath of it, blowing the smoke away and watching the pretty patterns swirl away in the light breeze.

Every now and then he'd practice simple tricks, blowing rings, or dragon blowing the smoke away, hiding behind the cloud of smoke, sometimes blowing double rings if he got bored, or if he was feeling particularly inclined, he'd do - what he thought was called - a jellyfish, making the smoke look like the sea creature as it swirled away from him.

But before he knew it, his phone was buzzing loudly next to him, making him jump and drop his cigarette, which he quickly stepped on to put it out.

"Hello?" Frank answered wearily, only now realising that it was light around him, and how tired he really was.

"Breakfast's ready." A cheery voice rang down the phone, a slightly mocking tone to it.

"Shit- I- Oh, fuck- I am so sorry-"

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry about it, just get your ass back here, I've already made enough and I need someone to help me eat it, yeah?" Maxx asked, waiting for the confirmation that Frank would be coming home before hanging up.

Frank glanced around him again, his features falling slightly when he still didn't see Gerard anywhere and started making his way home.

The walk seemed to take forever, even though in reality it only took about ten minutes tops, but that didn't make Frank's heart hurt any less. He had really been hoping to catch Gerard so he could apologise. He felt like such a dick, first running off because he couldn't deal with his own feelings, then not turning up the next night. It really sent the wrong kind of message to Gerard.

He unlocked the front door, being hit with the smell of fried eggs and a weak smile made it's way onto his face.

"Frank?" Maxx called and Frank wandered into the doorway of the kitchen, watching silently as Maxx cooked at the stove, using a spatula to peel the eggs off the pan.

"Sorry, no I killed him on the way here, was that wrong?" Frank snickered. Maxx's cooking always managed to put him in a good mood, but Gerard still hung like a dark cloud at the back of his mind.

"Awh damn, well then murderer, I really hope you like your eggs sunny side up 'cause that's how I've made them." Maxx joked back, sliding the eggs out onto a plate then pulling out some toast that had been kept warm under the grill and adding the slices to the plates.

"Thanks Maxx." Frank said quietly, sitting down at the table as Maxx turned to him, setting the plate in front of him.

"No problem, just text me or something if you aren't gonna be home in the morning so I can text you when I start cooking, yeah?"

"Okay..." Frank replied softly, tucking into the food.

"So," Maxx started after a couple of minutes of silence as the two boys practically devoured the food, "Where were you last night?"

"I- uh-"

"You don't have to tell me of course, just was curious..." Maxx interrupted before his brow furrowed and he leant forwards, sniffing the air, "Why do you smell of smoke?"

"I was smoking earlier...?" Frank winced, because no shit he'd been smoking earlier.

"Fair enough." Maxx shrugged, taking another bite of toast.

"Are you gonna come to school today? No offence but you look like you've just been resurrected from the dead." Maxx chuckled.

"That bad huh?" Frank gave a weak smile, looking down at his food then glancing back up and seeing Maxx nodding with a sympathetic smile.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later then? Get some sleep for me buddy." Maxx patted Frank on the shoulder as he left the kitchen. Frank just nodded, taking the last few bites of toast and moving to put his plate in the dishwasher. Maybe he'd see Gerard tonight.

The thought alone was enough to make him feel slightly happier as he trudged up the stairs and into his bedroom, falling face first onto his bed. Almost as soon as he hit the mattress he was asleep and snoring softly, completely oblivious to Maxx closing his door behind him with a fond smile and a quiet 'sleep well'.


	7. Mercy

Tonight was the third night that Frank had waited on the bench in the park. At almost 3 am there was still no show of Gerard, and Frank was on his second pack of cigarettes of that night - although, to be fair, there had only been a couple in the first pack left over from the previous night.

Frank was slouched against the bench, blowing smoke into the air when he remembered the docks. How hadn't he thought of them earlier? Gerard loved going to the docks.

He scrambled to his feet, almost tripping over one of the legs of the bench in the process but quickly found his balance and shoved the packet of cigarettes and his phone into his front pocket (as he was wearing his dungarees again).

He walked quickly through the streets, his hands tucked in his pockets and his head down. The way to the docks seemed so much more intimidating when Gerard wasn't there. The shadows seemed to sneer at Frank as he walked past, and all the quiet noises of animals scurrying in the darkness seemed so much louder, the smallest things making him jump.

He reached the docks and hesitated for a moment. What if Gerard didn't want to see him? What if Gerard wasn't even there? 

He eventually pushed away his thoughts, because so what if Gerard wasn't there, it just meant that Frank knew to not bother looking there again.

He swung his legs over the stone ledge, searching for the iron rungs that lead to the small pontoon he had grown to love. He climbed down near enough silently, the only sounds around him being the soft wash of the tide splashing against the pontoon.

He set his feet onto the wooden deck and looked around, completely freezing up when he saw Gerard sat in his usual spot staring right back at him with wide eyes.

"Gee?" Frank whispered out hoarsely as though he couldn't believe the other man was really real.

Gerard didn't reply though, instead he scrambled to his feet, moving as though he was going to try and push past Frank up the ladder, but Frank had other ideas.

The effeminate male suddenly pressed forwards, wrapping his arms around Gerard's waist and his face against Gerard's chest, squeezing the taller man tightly. He felt Gerard freeze up at his touch, but he didn't push Frank away, so Frank really wasn't complaining.

"I've missed you." Frank mumbled quietly, turning his head to the side so Gerard would actually be able to understand what he was saying.

"You- You have?" Gerard choked out unsurely, and Frank could hear Gerard's heartbeat speeding up.

Frank didn't reply, he just nodded trying to pull Gerard closer to him.

"And, I- I'm sorry I disappeared... something happened and I swear, I was going to come back and see you and thought maybe we coul-"

"Shh, shh it's okay, you're here now." Gerard gently stroked the hair from Frank's face, finally moving again and resting his arms over Frank's shoulders.

"Okay." Frank mumbled.

"You, um, you wanna sit down?" Gerard asked after a moment, and Frank nodded again, detaching himself from Gerard to allow the both of them to sit comfortably, although Frank still sat uncomfortably close had almost half his body pressed against Gerard's.

They sat in silence, but it was tense, unlike all the other times they'd done such a similar thing, and Frank knew that Gerard was biting his tongue on saying something.

"What?" Frank teased with a cheeky grin, turning to look up at Gerard.

"So you know I like you-" Gerard breathed out, tensing up even more after he said it, probably expecting Frank to run away again.

"Yeah..." Frank whispered. He was honestly terrified of what Gerard was going to say, but now he knew Gerard wasn't crazy or would try and stalk him or anything, and he felt Gerard almost completely relax against him, showing how relieved the punk male felt about the situation.

"You aren't going to run away again... are you?" Gerard asked nervously, looking down to his lap and messing with his hands.

"I'll try not to..." Frank let out a light chuckle, shaking his head as if to confirm what he'd just said.

"Why... Why'd you run before?" the red-head asked quietly.

"I- I-" Frank stuttered, looking for a response, "I panicked?"

"Yeah no shit, Frankie." Gerard laughed, his head tilting back and he looked up at the sky, a slight hint of a smile on his face.

"No- I- It's just- No one's ever liked me before- well- no- I-" Frank stuttered again, fumbling for the words he wanted, "No, I- guys have liked me before but it was only for the sex... it wasn't for me..." he said softly, his head hung down. His words making him realise how much of a slut he seemed like... Maybe Gerard would stop liking him when he realised how Frank whored himself out just to feel something, to be close to someone.

Gerard didn't reply, which Frank had expected, but what he didn't expect was for Gerard to voluntarily lean around Frank, pulling the smaller male into his arms and holding onto him tightly. The punk's chin rested lightly on top of Frank's head, who had leant into Gerard's embrace, his eyes fluttering shut.

The next thing he knew, Frank was being gently shaken awake and could hear his phone vibrating loudly in his front pocket. Gerard's arm was still wrapped around him, although his hand had dropped to Frank's waist.

"Frank? I think someone's calling you."

Frank squinted into the morning light, shifting slightly and realising what an uncomfortable position he had been sitting in.

He pulled himself away from Gerard and took his phone from his pocket, mumbling a curse when he saw the caller ID.

"Hey there Frank," Maxx sang down the line.

"Hi Maxx..." Frank mumbled back, shuffling away from Gerard again.

"You gonna come home or... I can still make breakfast if you want, but I won't bother if I'm not gonna see you."

"Yeah, yeah I'll come home, I'm sorry, I promise I'll text you next time, I'm sorry-"

"Hey, Frank, it's okay, don't worry about it, yeah?" Maxx sighed down the phone, his bright tone softening.

"Yeah, okay, um, see you soon, bye Maxx."

"G'bye." And Maxx hung up the phone. Frank slowly moved the small device away from his ear, just holding it in his lap idly.

"Was... Was that your boyfriend?" Gerard asked quietly and Frank could hear the hurt in his voice.

"What? No!" Frank rushed out; the last thing he needed was for Gerard to now think that he was seeing someone and had been lying.

"Are you sure? I mean... He wanted you to go home..."

"I think I'd be aware if I was dating him, and yes, because we live together, there's a group of five of us who live together, and we call that house home, okay Gee?" Frank said sincerely, trying to meet Gerard's gaze, finally finding it at the end of his short clarification.

Gerard nodded, but looked away again, chewing on his lip lightly.

"Do... do you um, wanna come and meet my housemates?" Frank asked quietly, leaning closer to Gerard and slipping his small hand over Gerard's larger one, catching his attention again.

"But what if they-"

"They won't 'anything'." Frank promised, sliding his other hand under the one he was already holding, "I won't let them."

"Okay." Gerard whispered, and a massive grin broke out on Frank's face.

"Really?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes, now take me before I change my mind." Gerard grumbled, but Frank could still see a hint of a smile hiding behind Gerard's features.


	8. Exo-Politics

Frank could tell that Gerard was nervous, hell Frank was nervous. What if his friends - if that was what you would call them - think of Gerard? The pair of them were (outwardly) nothing alike. And, while Frank knew Gerard was harmless, he could understand that his friends might be wary around him, even to the extent that they may not even want Gerard in the house, because it was theirs as much as it was his, and they deserved every right to say who they wanted and didn't want in their house just as much as Frank did.

"You okay?" Gerard mumbled from behind Frank. He wasn't walking with the smaller boy, or, at least he wasn't walking with his arm wrapped around Frank in any way, which was unusual.

Frank nodded.

"No you aren't, you're tense."

Frank sighed and stopped suddenly, causing Gerard to walk into the back of him.

"I'm scared, what if they don't like you? I- I really want them to like you-" Frank said, turning to Gerard and leaning against him.

"Hey, shh, Frankie it's okay, if they don't like me then that's not my problem, that's theirs. Okay?" Gerard tried to reassure Frank, stroking the smaller male's black hair from his face and offering a small smile for him.

Frank nodded, slipping his hand into Gerard's and moving away, stopping again outside a house - his house - and unlocking the door, pulling Gerard through the doorway with him.

"Frank? That you?"

"Yeah." Frank called back, kicking his shoes off and leaving them by the door, waiting as Gerard followed suit.

"Come on." Frank murmured, beckoning Gerard to follow him.

"Hey Fra- ah, oh?" Maxx said cheerily as he turned, but his voice trailed off as he took in Gerard.

"If you told me you were gonna bring someone home I would've made more y'know." He then continued without missing a beat, turning back to the stove and continuing with his cooking. Mere minutes later, the blonde was turning back to the table and setting down a plate of pancakes and one of bacon, rifling through the cupboards to find the syrup and grabbing the butter from the fridge before sitting down at the table and resting his head on his hands, looking at the pair expectantly.

"Well?" He asked, "Care to introduce me?"

"Oh, um, Maxx, this is Gerard, Gerard this is Maxx, one of my housemates." Frank smiled lightly, glad that Maxx was being just as happy and bubbly as he normally was.

"Well, It's nice to meet ya' Gerard." Maxx grinned, leaning over the table, his hand outstretched for Gerard to shake, who took it lightly with a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you too." Gerard replied politely, although Frank caught him wiping his hand on his jeans under the table and had to suppress a giggle.

"So, uh, mind me being nosy, but I gotta know, how did you two meet?" Maxx asked after a couple of minutes of silence where they all started tucking into their food.

"Well... Um, I needed to clear my head so I went on a walk at 1am a couple of weeks ago, and I ended up in the park, y'know the one just down the road?" Frank explained, gesturing vaguely to the front door, "And I was sitting on one of the benches there, and Gerard came up to me, and he- ah, he-" Frank cut himself off, giggling at the memory.

"He what?" Maxx asked, leaning forwards.

Frank looked up at Gerard to see him looking down at his own lap and blushing. Frank let out another giggle;

"He thought I was a girl and tried to hit on me, so I was like 'thanks, but I'm not a girl.'" Frank laughed again, leaning against Gerard's side.

"Yeah?"

"And, well, Frankie came back the next day, and the day after that, et cetera et cetera, and then about a week after that I got there early, and we went to the docks and got to know each other a bit better and, uh, yeah, that's pretty much it." Gerard smiled down at Frank fondly.

"So, -mind my nosiness again - are you two dating or...?"

"What? I- We- no- I-" Gerard stuttered.

"He wants to date me." Frank smirked, cutting Gerard off again, who looked down at his lap again, blushing heavily, something that Frank was almost certain he had never seen the punk do before that day. Maxx's jaw dropped as he looked between them.

"Okay, well I have to go, so, I'll see you kids later then?" Maxx smiled, standing up and putting his plate into the dishwasher.

"Wait, I thought you didn't have any classes today?" Frank suddenly said, standing up and following the blonde into the hallway, who froze as he was pulling his coat on.

"I don't..."

"So where are you going?"

"I- There's a girl..." Maxx smiled shyly, pulling his coat on the rest of the way.

"Ooh! what's her name? Why didn't I know about her? When did you meet? Where are you taking her?"

"Alright Frank! I know you're a hopeless romantic, but geez! Her name is Lindsay and I'll tell you more later, okay? okay." and with that, Maxx ran from the house, leaving Frank lingering in the hallway.

"Frank?" Gerard called softly, appearing behind him and pulling Frank from his thoughts.

"Oh, Gerard, hi! um, do you, uh, you wanna go to my room?" Frank spun round, coming face to face with Gerard's chest; or face to chest, however you want to look at it.

"Sounds good." Gerard smiled, taking Frank's hand in his own, "Lead the way."

"Okay, okay, um, this way." Frank blushed, moving out of the hallway and pulling Gerard up the stairs, "This is my room." Frank finally said as they got to his doorway and he pushed open the door, allowing Gerard to follow him in.

"It's cute." Gerard commented, looking around.

"You don't think it's childish?" Frank asked, glancing over to the two stuffed bears lying on his bed.

"So what if I might think that it's childish, if you like it then it shouldn't matter what I think okay?"

Frank nodded and went to sit down on his bed, immediately having to try and suppress a yawn as he realised how tired he actually was.

"If you need to sleep then you can Frankie, you don't have to stay up just 'cause I'm here, m'kay?" Gerard said with a soft smile, sitting next to Frank.

"No! But- but I wanna stay awake! You- you're here and I wanna spend time with you and-" Frank let out another yawn.

Gerard didn't say anything, and instead just wrapped his arm around Frank, pulling the smaller male closer to him, feeling Frank tilt his head so it was resting on Gerard's collar bone, letting out a small sigh.

He knew full well that Frank was going to fall asleep in this position and smiled to himself when he heard Frank's quiet exhales becoming slower, signalling that he was, in fact, asleep.


	9. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture)

Gerard pulled Frank's door shut behind him, closing it as quietly as possible and turning to creep away.

"Eh-hem?" Someone coughed behind him, and he almost jumped forty feet in the air from the unexpected sound. He turned around, trying not to wince as he caught sight of an annoyed looking girl with dark hair, around the same height as Frank and pastel pink and blue pyjamas on, her arms folded across her chest as she looked at Gerard expectantly.

"Care to explain what you're doing in this house, and what you were doing in Frank's bedroom?" She asked, a low and threatening tone about her voice and Gerard was embarrassed to say that he was genuinely terrified of the girl.

"I- I-"

"You- You." The girl mocked, a smirk forming on her lips.

"He's my friend, you can ask, um, Maxx." Gerard said, trying to sound confident, but his voice came out feeble and all he wanted was for a sinkhole to just swallow him up there and then.

The girl pulled out her phone, hissing a 'wait there' at Gerard, who shrunk back against the wall, and she scrolled through trying to find something, eventually holding the small device up to her ear.

"Hi Maxx, Yeah, I was just wondering, did you see anyone this morning before you left?" She asked, glancing back to Gerard for a second.

"Mhmm, yeah okay-" She paused for a second, twisting the phone away from her mouth and directed herself at Gerard,

"What's your name?"

"Gerard..."

"Okay, thanks, well, I'll see you later, Bye!" She said down the phone, hanging up.

"I am so sorry about that!" She turned back to Gerard, "My name's Jamia, it's a pleasure to meet you." She gave a grin and held her hand out for Gerard to shake.

Gerard took it delicately, gasping when he was yanked forwards into Jamia's arms.

"You're friends with him, you're friends with us. I trust that you're a good guy, but if you do anything to hurt Frank, you'll be hurting a whole lot more, okay?" Jamia whispered sweetly, catching Gerard off guard with the threat, but he nodded quickly, pulling out of the hug.

Despite Jamia's greeting getting the pair off to a rocky start, Gerard soon warmed up to her, realising that they had many of the same interests; one of them being Quentin Tarantino movies. 

Gerard could not physically express how much he loved Quentin Tarantino, and all the screenplay he directed, although you would never have guessed it since Gerard was actually terrified of blood, needles and anything "gookey" (which again, was greatly contrasted in the many tattoos he had covering his body).

"I'm just gonna go check on Frank." Gerard mumbled, standing up at the end of the second movie, making his way upstairs and slowly creaking open the door to Frank's room.

"Frankie?" He whispered into the darkness, but didn't get a response. His eyes adjusted and the slight form of the smaller male came into focus, and Gerard felt himself physically soften when he saw Frank.

The effeminate boy was curled around one of his teddies, hugging it tightly to his chest and snoring softly. His skin was completely smoothed out and his cheeks blushing in the dim light. His lips were slightly parted, allowing small exhales of breath, occasionally hitting the soft fur of the teddy.

"Dude if you weren't gonna come back you coul-" Jamia started loudly but cut herself off when she came around the corner and saw how peacefully Frank was sleeping.

"I'll- uh, I'll leave you two be then..." she said quietly, retreating back downstairs, giving Gerard a friendly pat on the shoulder as she left.

Gerard pushed off from where he was leaning against the doorframe and moved into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Frank let out a quiet mumble, then a small yawn.

"Hey Frankie." Gerard smiled, shifting so he was facing more towards the smaller boy.

Frank's eyes snapped open and he almost kicked Gerard, pushing the teddy away from him and pulling his arms back tight across his chest in a defensive position.

"Oh... Gerard..." Frank breathed out as he caught sight of the punk male, giving an awkward smile as though he hadn't completely panicked about someone being so close to him when he woke up.

"You okay?" Gerard asked carefully, not moving, not wanting to trigger Frank to do anything else.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Frank muttered tiredly, pushing himself up into a sitting position, before looking to his window, to Gerard, back to his window and back to Gerard with a confused expression.

"Why are you still here? How long was I asleep?"

"I'm still here because I was watching a couple of movies with Jamia and I don't know, three, maybe four hours." Gerard shrugged.

"Oh... okay..."

"But, I- I can go if you want me to?..."

"No! No, I want you to stay, I- people don't usually want to stay that's all... just a bit surprised y'know?"

"Yeah." Gerard sighed, looking over to Frank from where his gaze had drifted away. He looked around the room again as the pair fell into silence, not knowing what else to do, and was taken off guard when Frank suddenly flung his body at Gerard, taking the both of them out, Gerard lying on his back supporting Frank who was just above him.

Frank's eyes widened and a fierce blush rose on his face, his mouth gaping open as if he were going to apologise, but Gerard had other ideas. He dug his fingers into Frank's sides, a sly grin spreading across his face and the smaller male's face screwed up trying to keep the laughs from escaping as he fought to get free of Gerard's hold, writhing wildly on top of him.


	10. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 2 (Cross-Pollination)

"Let- go- of- me-" Frank forced out, struggling fiercely and almost escaping, but Gerard rolled them both over. Frank collapsed into a fit of giggles falling limp underneath Gerard and he curled up, trying to bring his legs up between them, obviously about to use them to try and kick Gerard off him.

So Gerard did the only logical thing that was open to him, let himself fall against Frank, stopping the smaller male from moving as their bodies pressed against each other. Gerard moved his head at the last moment, pressing it into the duvet above Frank's shoulder, narrowly avoiding what could have been a very awkward situation for the both of them.

"Gee-" Frank whined loudly, pressing up against Gerard's shoulders with his hands, but he didn't get very far before giving up, realising he wouldn't be able to move the punk.

"What?" Gerard mimicked back, turning his head to the side to look at Frank.

"Get off me." Frank scowled, copying Gerard and turning his head too.

"And what if I say no?" Gerard smirked. Frank's face fell blank for a moment before a devious smirk appeared and he rocked his hips up against Gerard's slowly, not dropping his gaze but putting on the most sultry expression he could muster, his mouth opening in a silent moan. He arched his back, refraining from smirking again when he felt Gerard scramble to push away from him.

"Frank-" Gerard whined, moving as far as possible away from the smaller male and sitting at the opposite end of the bed.

"What? Didn't'cha like that?" Frank smiled innocently, propping himself up on his elbows.

"No!" Gerard let out a frustrated sigh, his hands coming up to the sides of his head, running through the parts where it was shaved, but definitely in need of a re-trim.

"You didn't?" Frank asked, his voice more cautious this time and the facade was gone.

"No, Frank, I didn't... I like you for you, not for your body or anything else, I like you." Gerard sighed, his eyes cast down, fixated on the duvet immediately in front of him.

"So you don't just want me for the sex?" Frank's voice wobbled slightly.

"What? Frank! No, of course not, I mean, I'm sure the sex would be great, but that isn't why I like you, I already told you, I like you, your personality, how you react to things, how open minded you are; your adorable face is just a massive bonus to me." Gerard said sincerely, finally looking up at Frank again, who had since moved to sit cross-legged at the other end of the bed, facing Gerard with a sense of timid curiosity.

"A-and you mean that?" Frank asked quietly, chewing on his lip.

"Yes, Frankie, how else do you want me to show you that?" Gerard replied, leaning forwards. The moment was then ruined by none other than Gerard's own hair, which flopped down to the side, still feebly keeping the spike it had had previously, but flopping nonetheless and Frank let out an immature giggle, reaching forwards and bouncing the red hair with an amused smile.

Gerard's features softened as he watched Frank, fully aware that any product in his hair was coming off very quickly and very soon he would have some very fluffy hair to deal with, but in that moment none of that mattered, because it was Frank.

"Hey Gee?" Frank mumbled, still completely distracted by Gerard's hair.

"Yeah?"

"What does your hair look like without any gel or spray in it? Can I see it one day?-" Frank asked, twisting his fingers through strands that had separated from the rest of the spiked mass.

"Sure, just say when, yeah?"

"How about today? You could use our shower and wash it out- Oh my god, please? Please please please please please?" The smaller boy asked, not pulling his hand away but stopping messing with the hair, looking back to Gerard's face again.

"I- uh- I-"

"It's okay if you don't want to though, I just thought 'cause you're here already and your hair is already kinda floppy and-"

"Frank, it's fine, if it'll make you happy." Gerard smiled softly, placing his hand over the top of Frank's and holding it.

"Are you sure? You really don't have to do it just for me-"

"Yes Frankie, I'm sure." Gerard smiled again, cutting Frank off trying to reassure him and feeling his own smile grow wider at how Frank blushed at the nickname, "now where's the bathroom?"

"Oh, Okay, I- Okay Okay, this way-" Frank stammered out, scrambling off his bed and taking Gerard's hand, dragging the taller male closely behind him.

"Do you need a towel? You can use my shampoo it's the herbal essences one-" Frank rambled, stopping abruptly at a doorway and pulling it open, revealing a cupboard jam-packed full of towels, flannels and bedsheets.

"You'll have to use one of mine... I hope you don't mind." He continued, pulling out a soft pink coloured towel and handed it to Gerard who had to suppress a snort of amusement, because of course Frank's towels were going to be pink, why didn't he guess that earlier.

Frank then pulled him further along the hallway until they reached another door, which he knocked on to check there was no one in there, then pushed it open;

"Here's the bathroom-" He mumbled, going back to being shy again, "I don't have a hair dryer but I think Jamia does... if she doesn't then Maxx definitely will, but he's out at the moment..."

"Okay, well I'll see you in a few then, mhm?" Gerard smiled, moving into the bathroom and closing the door behind him, making sure to lock it.

He quickly stripped himself of his clothes, leaving them in a neat pile on the toilet lid and climbed into the shower. Once under the running water he looked for Frank's shampoo, finding it quickly as the group of housemates had clearly split the shelves between themselves, and Frank's was labelled Frank (obviously) and on it was a small bottle of said herbal essences shampoo that he had mentioned. He picked it up, turning it over in his hands and finding that it was strawberry scented, and again, really wasn't surprised about that.

He soon finished in the shower and climbed out, switching the water off before he did so, drying himself off with the towel Frank had given him.

He re-dressed himself and tried to dry his hair as best he could and left the bathroom, wandering down the corridor until he reached Frank's room and pushed the door open to find the smaller male lying flat out on his bed gazing up at his ceiling.

"Frankie?"

"Oh! Gee, you're back." Frank jumped up, sitting at the edge of his bed and looking at Gerard with curious eyes. The punk's confident exterior seemed to shatter within seconds of being around Frank again. He hated his natural hair, much preferring it when it was spiked up out of his face.

"Your hair-" Frank murmured, making his way across his room and standing up on his tip-toes, threading his fingers through Gerard's slightly wet hair, lifting it out to the sides and watching as it flopped back down.

"Do you want to dry it?" Frank asked, shaking himself out of the weird fixation he seemed to have.

"Yeah, sure why not."

"Okay, I'll- uh, I'll be back in a minute-" and with that, Frank left the room and Gerard could hear the smaller male yelling for Jamia as he made his way down the stairs.

He reappeared a minute later with a black hair dryer in his hands and he hurried over to his desk, plugging it in.

"Come here!" He beckoned Gerard, who hadn't moved since Frank had left minutes earlier.


	11. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Resurrection)

"Okay, I'll- uh, I'll be back in a minute-" and with that, Frank left the room and Gerard could hear the smaller male yelling for Jamia as he made his way down the stairs.

He reappeared a minute later with a black hair dryer in his hands and he hurried over to his desk, plugging it in.

"Come here!" He beckoned Gerard, who hadn't moved since Frank had left minutes earlier. Frank pulled out the chair, pushing Gerard down into it and turned the hair dryer on.

"Oi, who said you could dry my hair?" Gerard joked, a smile spreading across his face as Frank looked up at him in the mirror with a look of panic across his face before realising that Gerard was in fact joking about and returning the smile.

"You don't mind me using my hands do you?"

"... what else would you use?" Gerard asked, genuinely confused. 

"A brush... some people don't like using their hands when styling their hair 'cause it makes it greasy quicker." Frank explained, turning the hair dryer off again so he could hear Gerard properly. 

"Oh, Okay, no I don't mind what you use." Gerard laughed lightly and Frank turned the hairdryer back on again, threading his fingers through Gerard's hair and drying it, working his way round Gerard's head in sections.

"There you go!" Frank finally said, turning the hairdryer off and setting it down. Gerard tilted his head to the side, looking at himself in the mirror. He hadn't had his hair down for a very long time, but he wasn't going to lie, he did like it, whatever Frank had done to it.

"I-" Gerard started, but Frank was already in his lap, staring up at the bright red hair and twisting his fingers through it.

"It's so soft-"

"I've got your shampoo to thank there."

Frank blushed, but didn't look away, smiling as he held the strands of hair out, just watching, observing the way Gerard's hair fell back to its original place.

"You like it?" Gerard asked shyly after a minute of silence.

"Yeah, course I do." Frank smiled, leaning closer to Gerard. The smaller male leant forwards against Gerard's chest, letting out a contented sigh when the punk wrapped his arms around Frank, pulling him slightly closer and resting his chin on Frank's head.

"Frank- I- I need to ask you something, is that okay?" Gerard asked quietly, moving his head to the side slightly so he wouldn't accidentally hurt Frank whilst trying to talk to him.

"Oh shoot, um, sure."

"It's not bad- I promise, it's just, I- I really like you, but you ran when I first told you that, and never really gave me a straight answer about how you feel about me, and I don't wanna get hurt if you don't like me too- if you get what I mean?"

"Yeah, I- that's okay, I totally understand Gee, I don't think I ever told you this before, but all my past boyfriends only wanted me for the sex, because I'd just let them do anything to me, let them have their way with me however they wanted, and then once they got bored they'd just leave, and I- I-" Frank tried to explain but tears pricked at his eyes and he choked up, stopping speaking for a moment so he could dry the tears on Gerard's shirt.

"Hey, Shh, it's okay, I didn't mean to upset you." Gerard tried to comfort Frank, stroking the back of his hair and rubbing his back gently.

"No- I- I need to tell you this so you understand my answer, because it's not really one that you asked for... but I was scared that you'd find out about this and you'd either up and leave straight away, because no one wants to be friends with a whore, or you- you'd end up actually liking me for me, and then find out about this and use me like everyone else, and I'm tired of it, I'm tired and angry and upset and I don't want it to happen again, and I got scared when you told me you liked me-" Frank choked out, "and the reason I like our- our- What we have so much is because it's like a relationship, but it isn't labelled, and I can cuddle you and not have to worry about you leaving and you're there for me, as much as you make out that you hate contact and I just like this, and I'm scared of change I just don't want you to leave-" Frank sobbed.

"I won't leave you, I promise Frankie, I promise, okay?" Gerard mumbled softly, cupping Frank's face in his hands and lifting them so Frank was forced to look up at Gerard.

"Okay." Frank sniffled, his eyes opening and closing slowly as he tried to calm himself down.

"Can I do something crazy?" He then asked quietly, tilting his head slightly. Gerard nodded, dropping his hands to Frank's waist.

"Close your eyes." Frank whispered and Gerard let his eyes flutter shut. Frank then surprised him by climbing off Gerard's lap, disappearing somewhere into his room.

"Frank?" Gerard called out, "what're you doing?"

"Going to bed... that okay?" Frank replied, letting out a small giggle at the end and Gerard could hear the faint sound of clothes hitting the ground.

"Sure, but why'd I need to close my eyes?"

"Because, mr, I need to get changed and I don't want you peeking." Frank giggled, tapping Gerard on the nose before disappearing again. Gerard smiled at the smaller male's actions, a certain fondness for Frank's many quirks that seemed to attract Gerard to him.

"Frankie?" Gerard called our again.

"Mhmm?"

"Isn't it like... 2pm?"

"Uh... yeah, why?"

"Well you're going to bed now, how on Earth are you going to sleep tonight?"

"Oh... uh. I don't know... should I not go to bed then?" Frank asked quietly, as though he were scared of what Gerard might say to him, how the punk might react.

"Well, you can go to bed if you want to, but I- you know what, never mind, just go to bed." Gerard said, cutting himself off as he changed his mind.

"What, Gee, what is it?" Frank asked, plopping himself back down into Gerard's lap - who let out a surprised gasp at the unexpected action.

"No- it's nothing, don't worry about it-" Gerard mumbled, standing his ground but also finding it very hard with Frank sat in his lap.

"Please tell me." Frank mumbled, leaning against Gerard's chest again, fiddling with the edge of Gerard's shirt.

"I- I just thought we would be spending more time together... but you've slept for most of it- not that I mind of course! You need your sleep, but you're getting ready for bed again now and- well, y'know..." Gerard trailed off. Frank didn't move, and Gerard had no idea what the smaller male was thinking, he still had his eyes closed which really didn't help that.

"You wanna spend time with me?" Frank asked meekly.

"Yes Frankie, we've already been over this-"

"I know I know, but-"

"But nothing, shh," Gerard pulled Frank closer, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy.

"...okay... well, what d'you wanna do?"

"We could watch a movie? Or play a game... or, um..."

"Let's watch a movie." Frank smiled against Gerard's chest.


	12. M K Ultra

They ended up deciding on watching Rocky Horror, snuggling down together on Frank's bed as the smaller male opened up his laptop and pulled the film up. They had previously been lying separately to each other, the laptop resting between them as Frank tapped around with his movie library, but once the film had started, Frank had shuffled over and was basically using Gerard as a mattress after pulling his laptop over onto Gerard's thighs with basically no explanation. And anyway, they ended up falling asleep together, but where's the surprise there.

Frank woke up a couple of hours later, finding the laptop still on Gerard's lap and carefully pulled it off him, setting it on the floor and trying his best to push it under his bed before cuddling up to Gerard again, letting out a soft and contented sigh. Gerard pulled Frank closer to him, rolling over in his sleep and taking Frank with him, their positions reversed with Gerard lying half on top of Frank, not that the smaller male minded in the slightest.

Frank soon fell back asleep, matching his breathing with Gerard's until he felt himself dropping off again.

————

"Rise and shine motherfuckers I made you breakfast now eat it!" Maxx yelled as he waltzed into Frank's room the next morning, coming at a stop next to Frank's bed and grinning down at the pair.

Frank let out a groan, bringing his hand up to cover his eyes but it turned into a snort when he saw what his housemate was wearing. The blonde boy had donned a chefs hat along with a bright blue apron and was holding a spatula up in the air.

"You look ridiculous." Frank giggled, still not moving.

"I know, now get your lazy ass up you've been asleep since at least 4pm yesterday."

Frank waved a dismissive hand in the air, as if he was trying to waft his housemate away, "go away-" He mumbled, adding to the action.

"Okay, just as long as you get Gerard up too." Maxx replied sceptically, leaving the room and shutting the door with a soft click. Frank mumbled something inaudible and waved his hand again before looking to wake Gerard up.

The punk was sprawled across the majority of the bed, lying on his front with his arm draped across Frank's middle, making the smaller male smile to himself at Gerard's unconscious action.

"Gerard?" Frank asked quietly, poking at Gerard's face and watching as his forehead creased.

Gerard groaned, turning his head away and making himself comfy again with a quiet sigh.

"Gerard." Frank whined, poking the punks' head again, giggling quietly as Gerard tried to bat his hand away but kept his eyes firmly closed.

"Gee-" Frank tried again, leaning closer to Gerard, "we need to get up now-"

"Don't wanna." Gerard mumbled, not moving from his position. Frank shifted again, lifting Gerard's arm off him and crawling until he was lying on top of Gerard, laying his head down at the nape of Gerard's neck and tracing over the tattoos covering Gerard's arms with his fingers.

Gerard let out a contented sigh and folded his arms under his head, lifting his chin to rest on his forearms and he looked up out of the window.

"Y'know, you really aren't making me want to get up right now." Gerard chuckled, his voice gravelly from the lack of use overnight.

Frank let out a groan, pressing his forehead to Gerard's back;

"So how do I get you up?" He asked.

"Well... if you left the room then I'd probably wanna follow you..." Gerard suggested and Frank knew full well that the punk was smirking.

So with that, Frank rolled off Gerard and skipped out of the room, flouncing down the hallway and into the kitchen where Maxx was stood at the stove.

Pastel pink shorts and a top that was definitely way too small were worn by the effeminate boy and he greeted Maxx as he slid onto one of the kitchen stools, waiting for his housemate to finish cooking.

"Nice to see you finally decided to join me." Maxx laughed, moving an egg to one of the plates lined up on the side, repeating the action for the other two plates.

"Mhmm," Frank hummed in response, "Gerard didn't wanna get up."

"I figured." Maxx replied, a small laugh slipping out, "Oh, hey Gerard!" He then added and Frank followed his gaze, finding the punk loitering in the doorway, a tired smile across his face, but it quickly brightened up once he saw Frank sat at the table with a space next to him.

"G'mornin'" Gerard mumbled back, shooting a smile in Maxx's direction before joining Frank, sitting on the stool next to him.

"You guys sleep well then?" Maxx grinned enthusiastically.

"... yeah?"

"Good, good, you both need your sleep." Maxx smiled again, but directed his comment more at Frank as he (obviously) knew of the smaller male's habits of leaving the house for his midnight walks, which clearly led to him not getting enough sleep.

Frank blushed and looked down at the plate in front of him, watching out of the corner of his eye as Maxx and Gerard made friendly conversation and tucked into their food. Frank was finished quickly and he sat silently, listening to the talk, but it wasn't very interesting and he zoned out a couple of times.


	13. She's Kerosene

Gerard had left soon after that, bidding Frank goodbye - even initiating the hug - and although Frank was sad to see him go, he knew that Gerard couldn't just live with them forever, especially without a reason.

So now Frank was curled up on his bed, one of his teddies hugged tightly to his chest. He didn't know what he was feeling anymore, before he thought that he didn't want to be in a relationship with Gerard, but now? He wasn't so sure.

When Gerard was next him it was like his heart was bursting of happiness. Whenever he thought about Gerard he couldn't stop a smile from stretching across his face. And when he was away from Gerard it felt like he wasn't whole.

A quiet knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts.

"Come in." He mumbled, not moving to see who it was. The person sat at the end of his bed and Frank could see the long black hair; it was Jamia.

"Hey Frank." She said softly, giving him a small smile.

"Hey." Frank mumbled back. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and could already feel himself becoming irritated with Jamia being there, but he wasn't going to say anything about it.

Frank was expecting Jamia to say something, but it was like she knew that Frank didn't want her there, and bit her tongue, deciding against whatever she was going to say.

"Do you want something?" Frank asked, the irritation accidentally seeping into his voice.

"No- I- It's about Gerard but I can go if you aren't in the mood to talk." Jamia said, unphased but Frank's tone.

"Gerard?" Frank echoed, sitting up on the bed so he was facing Jamia, the teddy held loosely in his lap.

"Yeah- I know I haven't known him for long, Frank, but he really likes you; anyone can see that-"

"I know, he's told me, and I'm scared Jam, I don't know what to do, you know about my ex's, I- I-" Frank cut himself off with a loud sob, to which Jamia lent forwards and pulled the effeminate boy into her arms.

"Hey, Shh, it's okay, I know this is hard for you, but just hear me out okay?" Jamia murmured, stroking Frank's hair. He nodded and let out a sniffle, "From my point of view, Gerard is nothing like any of your ex's, am I right?" Frank nodded again, wiping some of the tears away.

"So I think you should give him a chance, okay? When I asked him about you, he didn't have any obvious bad intentions, Frank he really likes you, when I mentioned you he smiled, his eyes lit up just at the thought of you, and if that doesn't scream his care for you then I don't know what does."

Frank sniffled softly, and a smile was spreading across his face as he wiped the tears away.

"Feeling better?"

Frank nodded, "thanks." He smiled, sitting back up.

"Oh also, Gerard told me to tell you that he's taking you on a date tonight so... get ready for that." Jamia grinned brightly, standing up.

"What?!"

"He's gonna be here at 7, smart casual." And with that, Jamia turned and left the room, leaving Frank with a gaping expression.

Gerard? A date? Smart casual? Those were 3 things that Frank thought would never be in a sentence together. He stood up, shuffling over to his dresser and pulling out a black skirt - one that flared out if he spun fast enough. He then moved to his wardrobe and shifted through until he found his favourite top - a faded pink with a light grey drawing of a pug on it and the phrase "pugs not drugs".

He set the outfit down on his bed before leaving his room and disappearing into the bathroom to try and clean up a bit, splashing cold water on his face to soothe the blotchiness from crying earlier. He then dabbed some moisturiser onto his cheeks and forehead before heading back to his room, fanning himself to try and get the moisturiser to soak in faster.

He didn't wear makeup often, but when he did it was for a special occasion, and he deemed a date was worthy of that. He used some primer first, dabbing a bit across his cheeks, nose and eyes, using the excess from his finger on his Cupid's bow and browbones.

He then used an eyeliner to do a catwing, followed by mascara. He then dotted a liquid highlighter across his cheekbones, again using any excess from his fingers to add some to his Cupid's bow, then dotting some on his browbones and the tip of his nose, blending it all out and turning his face in the lights of his room to make sure it was equal.

Next came his favourite part; blusher. He always used a big powder brush for this, even though he knew that wasn't how it was supposed to be used. He dipped the brush in the powder pigment a couple of times before tapping it on the pan and sweeping it across his cheeks, just under the highlighter, repeating with the other side of his face, then picking up a slightly smaller brush (one that was probably an actual blush brush) and using the same blush across the bridge of his nose and just under the tip.

He had seen the last idea on YouTube a couple of weeks prior and loved how it looked on the girl in the video and had wanted to try it ever since, and now was the perfect opportunity.

He smiled at the finish product, the smile widening as he admired the makeup on his face.

"Knock knock!" Jamia yelled, knocking on the door before pushing it open, "I hope you're almost ready because Gerard's gonna be here in an hour."

Frank just nodded, shooing her from his room and she dramatically rolled her eyes, feigning being offended as she left, pulling the door shut behind her.

He then got dressed, first pulling on a pair of sheer black tights, then the shirt and then his skirt, tucking the slightly baggy tee in and twirling in the mirror, a small giggle escaping his lips.

Since he had no pockets, his next 'task' was to find a bag to put in any necessities, such as tissues, his phone and a chapstick, and once this was done he fell back on his bed, lying there for a second before sitting back up again. He hadn't touched his hair at all, and while he liked how it looked most of the time, he should probably do something with it.

He shuffled back over to the small vanity and sat back down in front of it, messing with his fringe a bit then finally pulling out a grey bow clip and clipping his fringe back.

He truly did look adorable.

"Jamia?" He yelled.

"Yeah?" The black-haired girl yelled back.

"Come here?"

He heard a pattering of feet seconds later, and the bubbly girl burst into his room, a grin across her face.

"Yeah?"

"Does this look okay? It's not too much is it?" Frank asked nervously, standing and giving a small twirl and letting the skirt flow out around him.

"You look gorgeous!" Jamia squealed, clapping her hands.


	14. Leap Of Faith

The three knocks at the door set forth a deep pit in Frank's stomach that he didn't know was there. Up until those knocks he'd been completely fine - excited even, but once he had heard them he started to panic, nervousness hitting him at full force.

"Go on! Answer it!" Jamia pushed him out of the lounge towards the door. He gave her a nervous smile before shuffling towards the front door and undoing the latch pulling, it open.

Gerard was stood there, some beautiful orange and red roses clutched in his hands, which he held out to Frank with a shy smile.

It took this action for Frank to be pulled from his thoughts. Gerard wasn't wearing the punked up outfit that Frank had been expecting, instead, he wore a tight black tee along with some smart black skinny jeans with (surprisingly) no rips. And the most noticeable difference? He hadn't spiked up his hair, instead leaving to to messily frame his face, how it had done the previous morning.

"Hey there." Gerard grinned as Frank took the flowers.

"Hi." Frank smiled back, looking down at the roses and lifting them to his nose, smiling more at the sweet scent.

"Do you- um, do you wanna come in?" Frank asked, shifting from foot to foot as he looked up at Gerard.

"Sure." Gerard nodded, waiting for Frank to move out of the doorway before following the smaller male through to the kitchen, where he filled up a jug with water and put the flowers in it.

"Thank you."

"What for?" Gerard asked, a mixture of surprise and confusion across his face.

"Everything... I don't wanna talk about it now, but I just wanted to say thank you." Frank mumbled, turning to find Gerard stood almost right behind him.

"That's okay." Gerard smiled softly, tucking some of Frank's hair behind his ear, leaving the smaller male to blush at the action.

"You ready to go then?"

Frank nodded, he had already put his shoes on before Gerard had arrived, and followed Gerard out of the door, giving Jamia a small wave as he left.

The punk pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked a deep green coloured car parked just outside the house.

"Whoa-" Frank gasped. He was no car expert, but he was pretty sure that this car was one; very expensive, and two; that there hadn't been very many made.

"Yeah, she's a beauty isn't she?" Gerard asked, smiling down at the car.

"Yeah." Frank breathed. He was almost nervous to touch it; it was clearly special to Gerard.

Gerard shook his head quickly;

"Anyway, we've got places to be, things to do." He said, pulling the door open for Frank and helping him in, then following suit and climbing into the drivers side and twisting the keys into the ignition.

The engine purred into life, and that was the first word Frank would use to describe it.

"If you don't mind me asking, what model is she?"

"Huh? Oh, she's a Jaguar XKSS."

Frank paused for a moment. The name rang bells in his mind. Suddenly he gasped and Gerard looked over to him with an amused smile and a raised brow, almost daring him to say it.

"Weren't there like, only- not many of these made?" He asked. He knew the number was low but he didn't want to make a fool of himself by saying something ridiculously wrong.

"Yeah, 16 in total, actually."

"Sixteen?" Frank echoed, looking down at the smooth leather seats in awe.

"But it must have been expensive?" He then asked, slightly confused.

Gerard just nodded.

"I'll explain later, I promise, I've been wanting to tell you for a while and I thought tonight would be the best time."

They then pulled into the car park of a fancy looking restaurant where Gerard parked the car, climbing out then running to Frank's side and opening the door for him.

Gerard's hand was placed on the small of Frank's back, earning yet another blush from the smaller male as he was guided to the front doors of the restaurant. Gerard held the door open for Frank - again - and followed him in, coming to stand just behind him at the small desk where an employee was stood.

"I've got a table reserved for Way?" Gerard asked.

Frank was caught up looking around the restaurant, shifting awkwardly. It was very posh, and he definitely didn't fit in, he felt severely underdressed compared to what others seemed to be wearing and fiddled with the hem of his skirt, twisting the fabric between his fingers as he waited.

"C'mon." Gerard mumbled, bringing his hand up to rest on Frank's waist as he followed the waiter. Frank had initially assumed that they would be sat at a table in the restaurant, but oh boy was he wrong.

The waiter led them through an entrance in the side of the building, which led to a small lobby area. They then went up in a lift - which was completely made of glass - And appeared on the top floor, well, it wasn't really a floor, it was the roof.

Frank's curiosity got the better of him as he gazed at his surroundings, then looked up to Gerard, who just smiled.

The rooftop was high up, that was the least that could be said. It had a strip of greenery running around the edge, making the space feel more enclosed, and there was some pretty fairy lights running through the plants and flowers, lighting them up in such a delicate way.

Near to the edge of the roof was a small table with two places set out on it along with a bottle of what looked to be wine and two flickering candles.

"Gee..." Frank breathed out as he looked around, "this is... wow"

"It's not too much is it?" Gerard asked, and Frank looked up at him again, astonished at the fact that - for the first time - Gerard seemed to be nervous.

Frank giggled quietly to himself.

"I guess it would depend on what you're trying to do."

Gerard rolled his eyes and let out a chuckle, visibly relaxing again and guiding Frank towards the table, making sure to hold his chair out for him before sitting down opposite.

The waiter reappeared, holding out a menu for the both of them, then disappearing from sight again.

Frank's eyes scanned down the menu, widening as he took in the options.

"Gerard! These are all so expensive!" He hissed.

But Gerard just waved a dismissive hand,

"Yeah, I know, choose what you want."

Frank sat stunned for a moment before his eyes returned to the menu and he scanned down it again. He skipped the starters and went straight to the main courses, his eyes drawn to the only pasta dish there.

It seemed to just be a spaghetti carbonara type thing, but then also seemed way too expensive to just be a spaghetti carbonara. But once looking down the menu he realised it was one of the cheapest things.

"You ready to order?" Gerard asked, looking up at Frank, who hadn't moved an inch since picking up the menu.

He nodded quickly before adding that he didn't want a starter.

"Are you sure?" Gerard asked, a skeptical look across his face. Frank nodded again.

"I'm sure."


	15. Got Eachother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEE

Once finishing their meal, Gerard leant across the table, taking Frank's hands in his own and looking down, clearly nervous for the second time that night.

"So, I um, I've wanted to ask you this for a while now..." He started, looking up to Frank, who was staring back at him with curious eyes.

"Frank Iero, will you be my boyfriend?"

A fleeting look of worry, maybe hesitation flickered across Frank's face as he took in the request, but slowly and surely a smile spread across his face and he started nodding as he grinned.

"Yes, yes I will be your boyfriend."

Gerard's nervous exterior seemed to melt away and the confidence was back with a smile so wide that Frank thought his boyfriend's face was going to split in two.

"Okay, well then, we'd better be off - things to do, places to be!" Gerard said dramatically, standing up and taking Frank's hand, leading the smaller male back to his car, only just getting to the doors before Frank stopped.

"But don't we need to pay? I mean- that's what we've got to do-" 

"Don't you worry." Gerard smiled softly, "I've got everything covered."

Frank opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again, taking Gerard's lead and following the - albeit toned down - punk to his car.

"Where are we going next?"

"Shh, you'll see." Gerard smiled, not taking his eyes off the road, but Frank soon recognised his surroundings, they were nearing his home again.

They passed the park and Gerard soon pulled up on a curb, twisting the key out of the ignition and pocketing it, doing a half-jog to Frank's side to open the door for him as he got out.

"Can't I know where we're going?" Frank whined as he clutched hold of Gerard's hand, tugging lightly.

But Gerard just shook his head with a smile, leading Frank away from the car, but only got a couple of meters away before stopping suddenly.

"Put this on?" Gerard asked, holding out a blindfold.

"I put makeup on-"

"Okay, well promise you'll keep your eyes closed then?" Gerard compromised, not bothering to try and argue with Frank. The smaller male nodded warily, closing his eyes as he felt Gerard pull him forwards slightly, stumbling from the unexpected movement but quickly adapting and following to his best efforts. 

A few minutes passed as they walked, Gerard's arm now around Frank's waist and the other holding his hand. Frank suddenly stopped, a smile rising on his face.

"Are we going to the docks?" He grinned.

"Hey! Were you peek-" Gerard cut himself off as he realised that Frank wasn't peeking, he had had his eyes closed the entire time, "how did you know?"

"I- uh... no reason... just guessed." Frank mumbled, blushing under the light of the street lamps and they continued walking.

"I don't believe you for a second there Frankie." Gerard mused, rubbing his thumb over Frank's knuckles.

"Okay, Fine, I'm really good at remembering places and how to get to them, and since I know my way there from the park, I realised that you're taking me there."

"Remind me to never take you somewhere we've been before if it's a surprise." Gerard muttered to himself, and Frank let out a quiet giggle as they started walking again.

"Do I have to keep my eyes closed?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Frank whined, tugging lightly on Gerard's hand, earning a quiet chuckle in return.

"Because-"

"But I know where we're going." Frank kept up with the whining.

"You just can't." Gerard said finally.

Frank groaned loudly, continuing grumbling until they reached the docks.

"I still don't want you to look so,-"

"You're gonna give me a piggyback?" Frank exclaimed, pressing his hands up against his cheeks in an excited expression, one that vaguely reminded Gerard of Deadpool.

"I- Fine, yeah, sure, that works too." Gerard chuckled, taking hold of both of Frank's hands and twisting to place them on his shoulders

"Jump." Gerard instructed, feeling the slight pressure on his shoulders as Frank jumped up and catching under his thighs, holding on tightly.

"You're gonna have to hold on yourself, okay?"

"Mhmm." Frank hummed quietly, resting his head on Gerard's shoulder and wrapping his legs as tightly as he could around Gerard's waist.

Even though his eyes were closed, Frank could still tell what Gerard was doing, moving around so he could climb down the ladder.

"You- ah- you can get down now." Gerard mumbled, and Frank felt the punk's hands under his thighs again, making sure that he didn't just fall straight to the floor, letting his feet dangle for a second before dropping gracefully with a quiet giggle, letting his hands drop from Gerard's shoulders not seconds later.

"Okay, um-" Gerard muttered- more to himself than anyone, but Frank still heard -, "Just wait there for a second."

Frank just nodded, keeping his eyes closed. He could hear Gerard pacing around on the decking, but not much else.

"Okay, I think- no, yeah you can open your eyes." Gerard said quietly, sounding almost embarrassed as Frank blinked his eyes open.

"Whoa-" He breathed out. Words had completely escaped him. He had thought that the rooftop meal had been beautiful, but this? Nothing was coming close to being comparable.

"I knew it was too much-" he heard Gerard mutter to himself, a frown on his face and chewing his lip. Frank basically launched himself at Gerard, wrapping his legs around Gerard's waist and burying his face in Gerard's neck, taking a deep inhale and smiling against the soft skin as he felt the punk's hands come up under his thighs with a shocked gasp.

"It's not too much, I love it." Frank mumbled happily.

"Oh... You really do?" Gerard asked, pulling Frank up slightly. The smaller male nodded, whispering back 'i really do' with a smile before pressing a soft kiss to Gerard's neck, not realising what he was doing.

The decking had small, twinkling fairy-lights strung up against the wall; two bean-bags were also placed there and a small table with a cute bunch of flowers was also there. It wasn't much compared to the restaurant, but it seemed so much more special to Frank because he knew the effort that Gerard must have put into that evening.

Frank eventually let go, letting his feet touch the floor again and unwrapping his arms from around Gerard's neck. The punk led Frank over to the bean-bags, sitting down on one of them and watching as Frank stepped towards the other, changing his mind at the last second and shuffling - almost with an air of shyness - back towards Gerard, who playfully rolled his eyes and held his arms open for Frank to snuggle into, watching with an amused smile as Frank curled up, sitting across his lap with his head resting on Gerard's shoulder.

Things like this still surprised Frank, he never expected to be able to cuddle up to Gerard without the punk freezing at the contact, but here they were.

"So," Frank started, turning his head so he was looking at Gerard's cheek, "How did you manage to afford all this?"

"Uhh... you want the long or short story?"

"I don't mind." Frank hummed.

"Okay, well, um, long story short, my- I- I... can I just show you?"

"Oh- uh, yeah, sure..."

———

When they arrived at Gerard's house, Frank's jaw dropped. He was completely speechless.

"Oh Frankie, has no-one ever taught you to not judge a book by it's cover?" Gerard teased.

Frank whined loudly and kicked his feet against the floor, scowling at Gerard as the punk let out a loud burst of laughter, leading him up to the door.


	16. Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mild smut warning

So turns out that Gerard - or, well, Gerard's family - was incredibly rich. They owned a chain of shopping centers as well as a production line... and a couple of other things but Frank had quite honestly forgotten what they were.

Now here the pair were, lying on Gerard's bed in his very suited room. By suited, the entire thing was black with white and silver accents spread about.

Gerard pulled Frank closer to him, mumbling something in his sleep, spooning Frank. It was just one of those nights when the smaller boy just couldn't get to sleep, no matter how much he enjoyed Gerard's company.

But he was pulled from his thoughts he felt Gerard grind his crotch against Frank's ass, letting out a quiet groan as he did so, repeating the action again. Frank's eyes widened, panic welling up and he could feel his chest become tight; finding it hard to breathe. Flashbacks were pulled into his mind and he could vividly remember the last time this had happened, forced to do something even though he had been asleep. It had happened too many times before, he had really thought that Gerard was different.

He felt Gerard shift again, but this time it was to move away from Frank, and the punk muttered a curse under his breath before climbing out of bed and shuffling into his en-suite, leaving Frank alone in the dark room.

Frank felt alone in the bed. To put it shortly, it was massive. Ignoring his small size, he could starfish out and not even cover half the bed, which was something he definitely wasn't used to. He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for Gerard to come back to bed, knowing full well that he wasn't going to be getting to sleep unless he was with someone.

A muffled moan sounded from the bathroom, making Frank lift his head to look at the door. Was Gerard really-

Another moan was released, cutting off Frank's train of thought. Gerard had really pulled away from Frank, knowing how uncomfortable the prospect of sex made him and went to get off in the bathroom; how sweet of him.

A couple of minutes (and moans) later a choked gasp of Frank's name was let out and the smaller male sat up in his weary state, staring at the closed door with a faint look of surprise.

Running water from the tap was heard as Frank guessed Gerard was washing his hands, then the door handle clicked. Frank swore he had never thrown himself into a sleeping position so fast, not even for his mom.

"Frankie? Are you awake?" Gerard whispered from the doorway. Frank didn't react, keeping his back turned from where he was laying on his side and refrained from letting out a laugh as Gerard whispered out an 'oh, thank fuck,' to himself, climbing back into bed again, wrapping an arm around Frank's middle and letting out a quiet sigh.

A blush spread across Frank's face, and he pressed back into Gerard's hold, a sleepiness finally washing over him and he let his eyes flutter closed.

———

When Frank awoke, the curtains were open and Gerard was lying next to him, fully dressed and on his phone, also wearing a beanie presumably to keep the hair out of his face.

He was playing a game, his attention completely focused on the small device until Frank rolled over from his side and onto his front, still looking over to Gerard.

"Oh! He wakes!" Gerard chuckled, looking down at Frank, a smile on his face.

Frank whined, pressing his face into the pillow, kicking his legs against the bed.

"What? Would you have preferred me to wake you at the crack of dawn with a kiss and 'good morning beautiful'?"

Frank blushed, twisting to look up at Gerard again. He wouldn't exactly have been adverse to that idea, but Gerard didn't need to know that.

"So anyway, because it's Saturday you don't need to go anywhere, so first we're gonna go get breakfast, okay?" Gerard asked, turning his phone off and setting it down on the small bedside table beside him. Frank nodded, not moving from his position.

"... that means you'll have to get up, Frankie."

Frank pulled a face. Gerard's bed was very comfortable, and Frank didn't want to leave it to say the least.

"If you don't get up now then I'm throwing you in the bath fully clothed." Gerard warned, sitting up slightly more, making Frank scramble into a sitting position, his legs half crossed in front of him.

"You getting up then?"

Frank nodded tiredly, rubbing a hand across his face. Before going to Gerard's, they had gone back to Frank's to get him a change of clothes and anything considered a necessity for sleeping over.

He had decided on a similar outfit, a short black pleated skirt with a plain white shirt tucked in, paired with a pair of thigh high socks and the converse he'd been wearing the previous night. He picked up his pyjamas and wandered back into Gerard's room, shoving the clothes into the small bag he had packed the previous night.

Frank turned when a quiet - what could only be described as - snort sounded from the bed.

"What?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest self-consciously.

"You look like a naughty schoolgirl..."

"Oh..."

"It looks good! Frankie you look good in anything you choose to wear-"

"So you don't think it looks bad?" Frank mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"No! No, you look great! So good, even if you do look like a badly behaved pupil..."

Frank smirked, stepping towards the bed, then crawling so he was straddling across Gerard's thighs.

"How... naughty are we talking, exactly?" Frank hummed into Gerard's ear, earning a gasp from the taller male and Gerard's hands came to rest on Frank's hips.

"Not so naughty that you try to do something before breakfast." Gerard chuckled, regaining his posture and tightening his grip on Frank's hips, lifting the smaller male up and setting him down on the floor whilst following him and standing close in front of Frank.

Gerard side stepped, moving around Frank to the door, looking over his shoulder to check his boyfriend was following.

"That's the spare bedroom," Gerard said pointing to a closed door as he walked down the corridor, "my brother's bedroom, my sex room, my parents room-"

"Arthur! What have I told you about using that language, especially around guests?" A tight voice sounded from a doorway they had just passed.

Frank turned to see an older woman, her greying hair tied back into a tight knot and a black silk robe wrapped around her body.

"I'm sorry, mom." Gerard groaned, rolling his eyes at the woman, who nodded before shifting her gaze to Frank.

"And who's this? Not another slut you found on the street, I hope?"

Frank flinched at the wording she used, tears pricking his eyes and he looked to Gerard with a sort of defeated expression.

"No, mom, this is Frankie, he's my boyfriend. And I've told you before, please don't use that word to describe people. Just remember, I'm the one that's bought them home, and we can't have people thinking that your precious son is a whore now, can we?" Gerard smirked.

The woman just glared back at Gerard, turning on her heel and disappearing into the room again.

"Frankie?" Gerard questioned, already another few steps down the corridor, "Oh, Frankie-"

Gerard wrapped himself around Frank, completely engulfing the smaller male.

"I need you to not listen to her, okay? She's a bitch-"

"Arthur! Do not use that language in my house!" A sharp voice cut him off.

Gerard rolled his eyes, mocking his mom with a childish smile, making Frank giggle.

"Now there's that beautiful smile." Gerard mumbled, bringing one of his hands up to Frank's face and tucking some of his hair behind his ear. Frank blushed, looking down at his feet, the smile still spread across his face.

"Breakfast then?" Gerard asked, stepping away, letting his hand drop from Frank's face.


	17. D.I.Y.

"So, Arthur huh?" Frank smirked.

Gerard groaned dramatically, letting his head fall onto his folded arms.

"Care to explain, Arthur?" Frank was mostly curious, but also slightly hurt, he didn't want to find out that Gerard - or Arthur - had been lying to him for the past few weeks.

"Please, stop saying that-"

"Well tell me why your mom called you that? And you replied to it?"

"It's because it's my first name- she insisted on having it as my first name but my dad wanted me to be called Gerard, which is technically my middle name, and I hate Arthur so I just flip them round, if that makes sense?"

"So your name is Arthur Gerard Way? But you don't like the name Arthur so you switched it?"

"Yep."

"Oh, okay..." Frank said, pushing the pancake around his plate with a fork, "your mom's a bit uptight isn't she?"

A loud snort from across the table made Frank jump and he looked up to Gerard, who had an incredulous expression on his face,

"I think 'a bit' is being a bit lenient on her there." He chuckled.

The pair fell into silence again, sitting across from each other at Gerard's kitchen table.

Frank had decided that - although the house itself was slightly intimidating - he liked it where Gerard lived. It showed off his little quirks that had never really been highlighted before; such as the fact that he preferred to cook his own meals than get someone else to do it for him, or how when he was tired he didn't put much effort into his outfit, or when he was relaxed he smiled more (and Frank could guess that was because of the events from that last night).

Frank was just bringing the last forkful of pancake up to his mouth when another boy walked in. He had the same angular face as Gerard, so obviously his brother, but had a much more slender figure. His hair was sticking in all different directions and he had a pair of Star Wars pyjama pants on along with a black tank top.

"G'mornin." The boy mumbled, wiping a hand across his face as he shuffled across the kitchen floor, giving Gerard a nod, not noticing Frank yet.

"Morning."

Frank looked between the two, a curious expression on his face, trying to hint at the question on the tip of his tongue without actually speaking.

"Oh! Frankie, this is Mikey, my brother, Mikey, this is Frankie, my boyfriend."

"- but just Frank is cool."

Mikey just turned and stared at Frank with a raised eyebrow before giving him a nod and turning back to the cupboard he had been sorting through, producing a box of Cheerios and setting it down, going on to pour himself a bowl of the cereal.

He pushed the bowl across the table, reaching across Frank before turning to put away the Cheerios and getting out some milk, adding it to the cereal and putting that away too, sitting down next to Gerard.

Frank then stood up, taking his plate to the sink and stacking it on top of the other dirty dishes residing there, jumping when he heard a gruff voice from behind him.

"So who's this beautiful lady? Hmm?"

Frank turned, a bewildered expression on his face, "I- I-"

"Dad, this is Frankie," Gerard cut off Frank, making the man turn to face Gerard instead, "he's my boyfriend."

"Oh, shit, my bad, I just assumed-"

"It's fine, Gerard did the same thing when he first met me too." Frank giggled, looking over to Gerard who was blushing and busying himself with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"What can I say? Like father like son!" The older man chuckled heartily, giving Gerard a slap on the shoulder and Frank had to suppress a giggle at the exaggerated expression Gerard made as he lurched forwards, rubbing the area and scowling at his father.

"Don't act like you don't love me Ger!" Gerard's dad laughed, popping a slice of bread into the toaster and leaning on the marble countertop to face everyone else, Frank still hovering near the sink. 

Gerard just shook his head, standing up and moving to the doorway before looking back to check Frank was following him, who quickly hurried across the black tiled floor mumbling something about how he should probably go now.

The effeminate boy shuffled past Gerard, who had been holding the door open for him, muttering a thanks before hesitating in the hallway, following close behind Gerard with an uncanny resemblance of a 'lost puppy' up the stairs and back to Gerard's bedroom.

"So," Gerard started, sitting on the edge of his bed, looking over to Frank who had stopped a couple of meters away, lingering and shifting, his gaze flickering around the room, "You, uh, you wanna do anything today?"

"I thought you'd have something planned." Frank giggled, finally calming enough to joke around again.

Gerard just smiled and shook his head, looking down at the ground before back up to Frank, who was now stood with a light frown on his face.

"What?" Gerard asked softly.

"I- It's nothing, nevermind." Frank shrugged, looking down at the ground, twisting his feet under him.

"No, what is it? Something's bothering you Frankie." Gerard sighed, moving to stand in front of Frank and guiding him to the edge of his bed. He knew Frank well enough to know his tics - if that's what they could be called - for when he wanted to say something but had bitten his tongue on it.

"Promise you won't be mad?" Frank asked quietly, looking up at Gerard for a brief second before his eyes flickered away again, an almost nervous look in them.

"I could never be mad at you, Frankie."

"Okay, I um, I- I can't say it." Frank's voice broke and he leant his head against Gerard's shoulder, his body shaking softly through the tears.

"Hey, hey, Frankie, honey, I promise you, whatever it is, I won't get mad, I won't think of you any differently, okay?"

"It's just- I- We- Since yesterday I-" Frank let out a hiccup, "I feel like we've not been so close... I-" another hiccup, "It's been almost awkward this morning, like neither of us know how to act around each other any-" hiccup, "anymore..."

Gerard stayed silent, opting to wrap an arm around Frank's shoulders to try and show he wasn't mad. He knew exactly what Frank meant. It was only a couple of days ago that they had been messing around on Frank's bed; cuddling up and sitting on each other's laps, but this morning it was like everything had changed.

They had barely had a conversation, and those that had happened had been forced or awkward, otherwise opting for silence.

"I know exactly what you mean." Gerard sighed, bringing a hand up and stroking Frank's hair, smoothing it down against the top of his head, "So I was thinking-" Gerard cut himself off, throwing Frank onto the bed then crawling over so he was holding himself above Frank with a cheeky smile across his face.

Frank let out a shriek as Gerard's hands came down to his sides, writhing wildly at the touch and laughter erupting from his mouth.

"Stop!" Frank laughed, trying to push away Gerard's hands, his eyes screwed shut and legs kicking out.


	18. Riskee and the Ridicule

It was safe to say that because of their positioning and just how ticklish Frank was, that Gerard was bound to get kneed in the balls, but that didn't make it hurt any less. His hands moved straight down to his crotch, covering it protectively and he rolled off Frank, curling up on his back a pained gasp escaping his lips.

"Shit- Fuck- I am so sorry- I didn't mean to- I-" Frank rambled sitting up and looking down at Gerard, a worried expression on his face.

"Shut up-" Gerard groaned, cutting Frank off and not moving from his position.

"I-"

"Shhh..." Gerard mumbled, waving a finger towards Frank's face as if to press it against the smaller male's lips, but not quite being able to reach.

Gerard's brow furrowed and he suddenly sat up, reaching out to Frank and pulling the smaller male across him before lying back down again, his eyes closed and a peaceful look on his face.

Frank lay still for a moment, their chests were pressed against each other and he was effectively using Gerard as a mattress.

"This is nice." Frank mumbled, turning his head to the side so he was looking at Gerard's cheek, smiling when he saw a faint blush on the punk's cheek.

"Yeah." Gerard agreed, turning his own head, blushing even more at the close proximity of their faces, a small smile growing as he studied Frank's face. He shifted slightly, lifting his chin up before hesitating, letting out a quiet breath before shifting again and biting his lip.

He lifted his hand from where it was resting on Frank's hip, moving it up to the effeminate male's cheek, bringing their faces closer together before finally connecting their lips.

It seemed awkward at first, neither of them moving much and Frank pulled away slightly before pressing forwards again, this time taking control of the kiss, sensing Gerard's uncertainty. He pushed himself up, his hands resting either side of Gerard's head, smiling slightly as the punk's hands caressed his cheeks, keeping him there.

It was like once he'd started, Frank just couldn't stop. Gerard's kisses, albeit inexperienced and unsure, were intoxicating. Completely breathtaking; more addictive than the small sticks of nicotine Frank was found to be holding so often.

It was nice, to put it simply. It was the first time in a long while that someone had kissed him and obviously not wanted sex to be the outcome of the kiss.

"Frankie?" Gerard mumbled against Frank's lips, pulling away slightly.

"Yeah?" Frank's voice cracked, which was when he realised there were tears rolling down his face.

"Are- are you okay?" He asked softly, moving to tuck Frank's hair behind his ear, eyes searching Frank's with a worried expression checking to see if he'd done something wrong.

Frank let out a short laugh mixed with a sob, a smile stretching across his face, "Yes, I'm okay."

"You sure?" Gerard asked carefully, wiping the pads of his thumbs under Frank's eyes to try and get rid of the tears. Frank just nodded again, laying his head down on Gerard's chest with a small smile.

The pair were silent for a minute, the only sound being Frank's quiet sniffles until he shifted, looking up at Gerard slightly.

"Y'know," he started, "I used to think I knew what it was like to be falling in love, to be in love, but I'm not so sure anymore, I think you've completely rewritten that for me."

Gerard's eyebrows shot up so fast he swore they almost flew off his face and he glanced down at Frank, glad that the smaller male wasn't watching his reaction. Did Frank really just admit that he was falling in love with Gerard? They'd only been dating for what, a day? Barely that if you counted the hours.

"Which isn't a bad thing, of course, but I never knew what it would be like to be in a relationship where sex wasn't the number one priority, where I didn't feel pressured into doing something, y'know?"

Gerard just nodded, being too caught up in his own thoughts to properly concentrate on what Frank was saying.

"Gee?"

"Mhmm?" The punk hummed in reply.

"Have you... have you ever been in love before?"

Gerard hesitated, he hadn't dated anyone before Frank, which was surprising considering he was already 20, so his answer was obviously going to be no; he shook his head.

"Oh... Have you ever dated anyone before?" Frank then asked, forgetting about boundaries momentarily and twisting to look up at Gerard when he didn't answer, "Not that you have to answer, I was just wondering sor-"

"No, no I haven't you're my first boyfriend... well, unless you count that time in third grade when I dated my then best friend Lindsey, but other than that then no."

"Oh. What do you mean 'then' best friend? Do you guys not talk anymore?" Frank asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"She, ah, she moved across the country at the end of the year, and y'know how you always promise to keep in touch then you never do because you don't have any way to actually stay in touch? Well... yeah."

"Oh... Have you got your phone on you?" Frank asked randomly.

"Uh, Yeah, I should-" Gerard shifted, lifting his hips and checking his back pocket, producing the glass-covered device.

"Whoa, you have such a cool phone." Frank breathed, turning it over carefully in his hands, sitting up across Gerard's hips.

He pressed the power button before turning it back to face Gerard, who watched with an amused expression as Frank fiddled to open the phone to its home screen. The smaller male then crawled off Gerard and lay down next to him, lying on his front and Gerard turned his head so he could see what Frank was doing out of the corner of his eye.

The effeminate boy searched for the Facebook app before turning to Gerard with a playful scowl;

"How come you don't have any social media?"

"Never saw any reason to."

Frank just shrugged, fair enough. He opened the App Store and downloaded the app before opening it and creating Gerard an account, asking for his email and a password.

"Smile!" Frank grinned, snapping a picture of the both of them, leaving Gerard a bewildered mess wondering what that was for.

"Okay... what's her last name?"

"Uhm... I think it was Ballato."

Frank tapped around for a few seconds before turning the phone screen towards Gerard.

"This her?"

Gerard took the phone from Frank, scrolling through the profile, a smile growing on his face, and he nodded a couple of times;

"Yeah, I think it is."

"Cool!" Frank grinned, taking the phone back and scrolling to the top, quickly sending the girl a friend request.

"What did you do?" Gerard asked cautiously.

Frank explained, showing the screen to Gerard again as he did so.

Not even seconds later a ping resonated through the room and Frank picked up the phone again, passing it to Gerard.

"She accepted my friend request!"


	19. Take On Me

When Gerard arrived at Frank's door, the last thing he expected was to hear 'Take On Me' by a-Ha playing. He even less expected to open the door and find his small boyfriend dancing around his room in just his boxers and a pastel pink cropped top; well, the pastel pink was to be expected, but put together in what could barely be called an outfit like that? not so much.

And Gerard would be lying if he said that his eyes hadn't slipped downwards to what Frank's tight underwear hid. He couldn't help himself, and he hadn't meant to do it, but once he realised where he was looking, his eyes snapped back up to Frank's face.

"Frankie?" He called, stepping into the room and pushing the door shut behind him, leaning his back against it. The smaller male didn't react, instead starting to sing along, spinning around as he tried to hit the high note, stumbling slightly but regaining his balance as he came to a stop just a meter from Gerard.

As his eyes opened Gerard's grin just widened, watching in amusement as Frank's head rose until he finally looked Gerard in the face, a vivid blush spreading across his cheeks along with an embarrassed smile.

"Hey there."

"Hi..." Frank mumbled back, pulling himself so he was stood up straight again, his head angled downwards slightly so he was looking up at Gerard through his lashes, making him seem even more adorable.

"You okay?" Gerard chuckled, if you could even call the soft half-laugh he let out a chuckle, tucking a strand of Frank's hair behind his ear, smiling at how Frank still - no matter how many times he did this - blushed at the action.

Frank nodded, his gaze dropping to the floor and he drew a half circle on the floor with his toe. Gerard opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the beat of Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics, and the smirk returned to his face, looking down at Frank.

The smaller male jumped, looking at his speaker with an almost accusative look, before sending Gerard a sheepish smile and shrugging.

"What? It's a good song."

"Fair enough." Gerard laughed, "what other gems do you have on your playlist?"

"uhh..." Frank looked up to the ceiling in thought before wandering over to his bed and sitting on the edge, "Final Countdown, um, Bad Reputation, the Joan Jett version though, be my baby-" He blushed again, "poison, animal by def leppard, the classics y'know." Frank looked over his shoulder to where Gerard had crawled onto and lay down on his bed, sporting the classic 'draw me like one of your french girls' pose.

"And on that note, since your birthday is next week I got you- actually never mind, I wanna surprise you." Gerard started but cut himself off with a smirk.

"No!" Frank whined, twisting and lying down next to Gerard, "I wanna know now!"

Gerard chuckled again, "No, I want to surprise you, so I'm no gonna tell you."

"Hmph." Frank pouted, crossing his arms across his chest and rolling over to lie on his back. What could Gerard possibly be getting him for his birthday? It had to be something music related, right? Maybe it was a CD or a giftcard? Frank could only wonder. He turned his head to look Gerard, only to find his boyfriend was already staring at him, and a blush rose on his face, suddenly very aware of his lack of clothing.

"I, um, I'm gonna go put some-"

"Oh- Yeah, sure yeah-" Gerard agreed, a blush rising on his face as Frank crawled to the edge of his bed and shuffled across the room, pulling a black pleated skirt from his drawers and pulling it up, fastening the buttons at the side.

He then crawled back onto his bed, sitting facing Gerard who peered back up at him, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Gerard's pursed lips before sitting back up again with a small smile.

"What?"

"Nothin', I just like kissing you."

"Shutup." Gerard mumbled, a playful scowl on his face.

"What? I do! I really, really do!" Frank giggled, pressing a kiss to each of Gerard's cheeks, his nose and then finally his lips, kipping them pressed together as a smile grew on his face.

"Oh!" Frank gasped, pulling away, "could you make me look like you?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, make me look like I'm a punk? Oh and I could make you look like me!" Frank let out a giggle.

Gerard just raised his eyebrows, trying to imagine what clothes Frank had that could possibly fit him.

The next minute Frank was jumping back onto his bed with an almost delirious expression on his face and an armful of clothing.

"Here! Put these on!" Frank pushed the fabrics towards Gerard, who took them with a wary look, sitting up and shuffling to the edge of the bed and setting them down again, then pulling his tank top up over his head, turning to the first item of clothing which happened to be a cropped pastel pink hoodie.

He twisted, looking at Frank as if to say 'really? This?' But his boyfriend just grinned back at him, urging him to go on, and so, he tugged the soft jumper over his head and pulled the hood down, glad that he hadn't bothered with spiking his hair up into its usual Mohawk that day.

Gerard has thought that the hoodie had been bad enough, let alone when he picked up the next item, realising just what they were and letting out a slow exhale. He stood up, facing away from Frank and unbuckled his belt, pushing his black skinny jeans to the floor and stepping out of them, sitting back down to pull the fishnets up over his legs.

He then stood up, again, and pulled up the dark grey, distressed denim shorts, buttoning them up and turning back to Frank, who let out a squeal and clapped his hands, clearly delighted with the outfit.

"You look amazing! And oh my god- your legs- wow, I-" Frank rambled, cutting himself off. Gerard just blushed, looking down at himself, and turning to look in the mirror hung on the back of Frank's door.

He hadn't actually expected to like what he saw and - whilst being majorly out of his comfort zone- he had to admit, he looked pretty cute.

"Oh god, fuck me!" He heard Frank sigh then a soft 'oomf' as Frank presumably fell back against the duvet.

"Excuse me, are we forgetting who your boyfriend is here?" Gerard smirked, turning back to face Frank, who blushed but flicked his fingers up at Gerard, a cheeky grin on his face.


	20. Suerte (Wherever, Whenever)

"So, um, I was wondering if you'd, uh, if, um-" Frank stumbled over his words, looking down at his feet and twisting his hands behind his back and looking down at his feet.

"Spit it out." Gerard chuckled, sitting up on his bed. Frank had come over to his house again, and on returning from the bathroom had stopped to ask... to ask...

"Maybewouldyouwannameetmyparents?"

"Eh?" Gerard frowned, not understanding a word Frank had just mumbled.

"I was wondering if, um, if maybe you'd want to meet my parents? You can say no of cou-"

"I'd love to." Gerard cut Frank off with a grin. He understood that Frank's parents meant a lot more to Frank than Gerard's parents meant to him- or his mother at least. Which also came with the linked idea that Frank clearly wanted their approval, something - again - that Gerard had picked up on in the early days of their relationship, having to constantly reassure Frank that he did look stunning and wasn't being annoying by always asking for said reassurance.

"You would? I mean-" Frank's confused frown turned to a grin, "yay! So, uh, I'll let them know and we can arrange a time for you to come over?"

Gerard just smiled softly, reaching out and tugging Frank onto his bed, "that'd be great."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Frank let out a quiet sigh, resting his head on Gerard's chest, keening quietly when Gerard started running his hands through Frank's hair. They were silent for almost ten minutes, just enjoying each other's company before Gerard spoke again.

"What're your parents like? You've met mine, and I'm gonna meet yours-"

"Well, um..." Frank started, sitting up and turning to face his boyfriend, crossing his legs.

"There's my mom, and she's really sweet, um, she doesn't really understand this whole cross dressing thing-" Frank cut himself off with a giggle, "but, ah, but she is coming round... then there's my dad..." his tone quietened a bit.

"Yeah?"

"He's, um, he's - to put it shortly - homophobic, but he won't say anything while you're there... he doesn't really support 'my lifestyle' especially with the skirts but it's okay y'know, he won't do anything as long as I'm successful in what I wanna do...

"But back to my mom! She got me into all the bands I like, and I usually go to concerts with her." Frank smiled, pausing momentarily, "so yeah, that's my parents."

"They seem nice." Gerard smiled back, watching as Frank nodded in agreement.

"Oh, uh, you like pasta right?"

"Yeah?" Gerard chuckled at the random question.

"No- it's- I'm Italian, well- I was born there but we moved here soon after, but my parents are Italian, and they like to live up to their stereotypes..."

"You're Italian?"

"Uhh, Yeah?" Frank smiled nervously.

"That's so cool! How come you never told me?" Gerard grinned, sitting up so he was facing Frank.

"It never came up I guess..." Frank shrugged, looking down and fiddling with a thread on his socks.

"Huh." Gerard hummed.

"What?"

"Well... I heard it was one very beautiful boy's birthday tomorrow-"

"Lucifer?" Frank giggled, looking up again.

"One, lucifer doesn't have a known birthday, that's just the day we celebrate the spirits passing over, two, I'm talking about you, dumbass."

Frank just giggled again, dropping his head to hide the blush.

"So anyway, it's your birthday tomorrow, and I thought that it might be cool if I gave you one of your presents early?"

"Really? You didn't have to get me anything!" Frank replied softly, although a smile still crept through at the idea of what Gerard might have gotten him.

Gerard pushed himself into a half sitting position, leaning across Frank to the black bedside table and pulling the drawer open, producing a white envelope with Frank's name on it, passing it to Frank before pushing the drawer closed and lying back down, watching his boyfriend closely for his reaction.

"What this?"

"I just told you..."

"Yeah but-"

"Yeah but, what? Open it!" Gerard grinned.

Frank scowled playfully at the punk, his nose scrunching up as he did so before turning back to the paper in his hands, turning it over carefully and tearing along the fold, pulling out two printed tickets, a grin spreading widely across his face.

"Well?" Gerard prompted, but his smirk was wiped of his face when Frank landed on top of him, pressing a kiss to his lips.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Frank squealed, positively vibrating as he wrapped both his arms and his legs as tightly as he could around Gerard's torso.

Gerard patted his back lightly, murmuring a quiet 'You're welcome'.

Frank eventually pulled away, straddling across Gerard's hips as he looked at the slips of paper again.

"Wait- it's tomorrow? On my birthday? How- wh-"

"They announced the Halloween NJ date along with the other dates and then when I found your birthday was on Halloween I couldn't resist... you like it?"

Frank nodded quickly, his hair flying up around his face as he did so and the grin returned to his face.

"It's so thoughtful of you."

"So... who d'you wanna take with you?" Gerard asked after a moment.

"Huh?"

"Well there's two tickets there, so who're you taking?"

"I thought you were coming?" Frank asked, looking back to Gerard from the tickets with a furrowed brow.

"Well I can if you want me to-"

"Of course I want you to! Who else would I bring?" Frank giggled. 

"Well... you said it yourself, you usually go to gigs with your mom-"

"That's because I have no one else to go with! Now I've got you!" Frank laughed, doing a little happy dance and wiggling slightly and Gerard had to bite his lip to distract himself from what Frank was doing, and fortunately for Gerard, Frank stopped wriggling shortly after.

"Oh I need to pick out an outfit! And find some shoes to wear!" Frank gasped, pressing his hands against his cheeks and squishing them up slightly.

"Are you absolutely sure you aren't a teenage girl?" Gerard chuckled, pushing himself up so he was leaning against the headboard, Frank following still seated across his hips.

Frank blushed and nodded, a small smile on his face as he looked down again, scratching the back of his head, glancing back up and blushing more when he realised Gerard's eyes were still trained on him.

"What?" He whined, hiding his face behind his hands.

"Nothin' you just- you're beautiful." Gerard mumbled, pulling Frank's hands away and holding them both against his chest.

Frank whined again, bouncing as if he were a child having a mild tantrum, tugging at his hands trying to pull them back but froze up when Gerard let out a low groan he'd been fighting to hold back, his brows furrowing and biting down harshly on his lip.

"Gee?" Frank questioned, his head cocking to the side, moving back slightly and blushing ferociously realising why Gerard was acting the way he was.

He rocked his hips forwards, flattening his hands against Gerard's chest and letting his mouth fall open.

Gerard moved his hands to Frank's hips, flipping them over so he was holding himself above Frank on his bed.

"Frank, I- I really like you, a lot," Gerard breathed, pressing a kiss to Frank's cheek, "but I don't want that, not now at least." He let go and rolled off his boyfriend, sitting up cross legged, gazing out of his window until his attention was yanked back to Frank who had let out a quiet sob.

"Frankie?"

"Why? Why don't you wanna have sex with me? Am I not pretty enough? Do you not like me enough? I-"

"Frankie, Frankie Frankie Frankie, you are everything I've ever wanted, you're gorgeous from the top most hair on your head to whatever shoes you decide to wear," Gerard stressed, pulling the smaller male into his lap, tucking the black mop of hair under his chin and wrapping his arms around Frank's shaking body, "I asked you to be my boyfriend for a reason, because I do like you, I like you a hell of a lot, and Frank I think my dick has established enough that I do wanna have sex with you-" Frank let out a giggle, pressing his tear-stained face against Gerard's chest, "but just not yet, I wanna show you that you're so much more than 'some slut', you deserve to feel beautiful and be taken out on dates and shown off-"

"Feeling better?" Gerard asked, pausing his stroking movements.

Frank nodded, sniffling but looking up at his boyfriend with a small smile.


	21. Punk! Frank

"Hey Gee?"

"Mhm?" Gerard hummed. He was lying on his bed, scrolling through Twitter with Frank sprawled across the floor, wittering on about anything and everything that crossed his mind.

"Remember that time i got you to wear my clothes?"

"Yeah...?"

"And how I said maybe you could make me look like you...?"

"Yeah?" A small smile formed on Gerard's face as he rolled onto his side and looked down at Frank.

"Can we- um,"

"Sure."

"Oh! Really!" Frank grinned, sitting up.

"Yeah, sure." Gerard returned the smile, sitting up and shuffling to the edge of his bed before making his way to his closet and rooting around for a couple of minutes, eventually coming back with an armful of clothes.

"Eeeee!" Frank squealed in excitement, he had moved up onto Gerard's bed while he was waiting, but had jumped off and run up to the taller male when he appeared again.

"Well, uh, here you go." Gerard shrugged, holding out the clothes.

Frank took them eagerly and ran into the bathroom, disappearing within seconds. Gerard smiled fondly after the smaller boy, listening to when he heard each of his original pieces of outfit hit the floor with a soft noise, then also when Frank picked up the jeans off the tiled floor and the chain attached made a loud noise.

He appeared again a couple of minutes later still holding the jeans with a confused expression on his face.

Gerard smirked back. He knew full well why Frank looked so confused. The jeans had straps crossing the backs of them, which, if you haven't seen them before, could be confusing.

"Look-" Gerard murmured, getting up and crossing the room to Frank, taking the denim from his grasp and untangling the different straps of fabric.

"Oh! Okay-"

Gerard nodded with a soft smile, handing the jeans back to Frank as he did so.

He'd given the smaller male a tank top - which was already reaching Frank's thighs - along with said jeans and a sleeveless denim jacket. The outfit looked fine on Gerard, but what could he say; the clothes did fit him.

Frank turned around, facing away from Gerard before trying to tug the material over his legs. He succeeded, to say the least, but the ankles of the jeans were still covering his feet by the time he had lined his waist up with the waistband of the jeans.

"Uh, Gee?"

"Yeah-" Gerard snorted, chuckling at how ridiculous Frank looked.

Frank just stood there, looking up at Gerard as if he couldn't figure out why the punk was laughing. Gerard couldn't contain the giggles and he instead he slipped his hands under Frank's armpits and carried him over to his bed, setting him down so his feet were dangling off the edge, not quite reaching the floor.

Gerard then - still chuckling to himself - sat himself down, cross-legged in front of Frank on the floor.

"Hey! What are you-!" Frank started asking but cut himself off with a loud squeal when Gerard pinched his toes suddenly in an attempt to start rolling up the jeans. Frank kicked out, writhing on the bed and sliding off, landing half on top of Gerard and throwing the punk a disheveled smile.

"Well done." Gerard said with a completely straight face, moving his focus back down to Frank's ankles and folding the fabric back until the pink, frilly socks that Frank was wearing came into view again.

Frank scrambled to his feet, doing a half-skip kind of movement to the mirror and peering at his reflection, looking back to Gerard with a wide grin across his face then bouncing over to the punk and landing in his lap.

"Oh-" Gerard grunted at the sudden weight, his hands coming up to Frank's waist.

"Please please please please please can you do my hair too?" Frank begged, jumping childishly, his hips rocking forwards and - for obvious minor reasons - Gerard agreed very quickly, standing up as fast as he could and taking Frank with him. He turned, trying to distract himself with gathering his hairspray and blow dryer, tossing them over his shoulder and smiling at the squeak the smaller boy let out as he caught the items.

Gerard then disappeared into his bathroom, appearing again moments later with a small towel, some makeup wipes, a small bag and a huge smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing, Nothing." Gerard hummed setting the items down next to Frank.

———

"Okay, 've just gotta add a couple things and then I'm done." Gerard said, sidestepping to block Frank's view from his mirror. The smaller male scowled at Gerard, his nose scrunching up as he did so. 

The punk just smiled in return, pressing two fingers to Frank's forehead to angle his boyfriend's face into the light of his room.

"What are you doing?"

"Eyeliner. Close your eyes."

Frank obeyed, his eyes fluttering shut and his features smoothed out although there was still a childish grin across his face. Gerard ran the pencil along the top of Frank's lashes, smudging the black out with the pad of his thumb, the rest of this hand resting on Frank's cheek as he did so. He repeated the actions on Frank's other eye before pulling away, examining his work.

"Look up. This might feel a bit weird-"

"That's what she said-" Frank giggled as he opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling.

"I have a sharp pencil very close to your eye, I'd be very careful about what you say right now."

Frank just smirked, rocking forwards and pressing a kiss to Gerard's lips before rocking back to his original position.

Gerard ignored him, pulling down the skin under Frank's eye with his thumb and running the eyeliner along Frank's waterline, smudging it out and finishing the other eye before stepping back.

"Are you done?" Frank eyed Gerard. The punk nodded, pulling Frank to his feet and letting him past to the mirror.

"Oh my god!" Frank squealed, bouncing on the balls of his feet and twisting, looking at every angle he could in the single mirror, "I love it! I look like you!"

Frank launched himself at Gerard, wrapping his legs around the punk's torso and his arms around Gerard's neck, their cheeks pressed together.

"Oh! You do?" Gerard asked, lifting his arms to Frank's waist to keep him there.

"Yeah! Sure I do!"

The punk stepped backwards, sitting down on his bed with Frank still clinging to his front.

"You look really cute." Gerard mumbled. Frank barely caught it, knowing he only heard because Gerard's lips were pressed against his ear.

"Yeah?"

Gerard just nodded, pulling away slightly, looking Frank up and down. 

" 'm not sure if it suits you, but you still look good."

Frank giggled, nodding his head in agreement, the grin never leaving his face.


	22. Sp00ky Season

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't come at me i know u shouldn't pierce w hoops but just for the sake of the plot please ignore that :)

"Soo...." Frank started, turning his head slightly, his lips brushing against Gerard's cheek as he did so.

"So...?"

"Well, I was thinking-"

"You're always thinking." Gerard chuckled. Frank scowled in reply, but ignored him, continuing with his thought.

"That maybe, since we're seeing the Misfits tonight, could I go like this?"

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean, dressed like this, y'know, like I'm a punk-"

"Uh, yeah, um sure, why'd you ask though? I don't control you." Gerard smiled softly, pulling away slightly and gazing at Frank, who had an uncertain expression on his face.

"So you don't mind?"

"Of course not! I couldn't care less about how you looked- I mean, as long as you aren't walking around in just your underwear then sure, wear what you want."

Frank returned the smile, pulling Gerard into a tight hug.

"Your hair is tickling my ear." Gerard deadpanned, and Frank pulled away, blushing brightly, his head dipping as he apologised.

Frank's hair had been spiked up into a small mohawk. Gerard couldn't lie, it did actually suit Frank, very well actually, but he found himself to be rather fond of Frank's feminine style.

"Oh! and also, I was thinking-"

"Again? The fun just never stops!" Gerard interrupted again with a smirk. Frank just scowled, sticking his tongue out and flicking the punk on the arm.

"Anyway, I was wondering what you'd think if i got my nose pierced?"

"Oh, um..." Gerard blinked, he didn't know, "I think you'd look cute with a nose ring."

"You do? I wanna get my lip pierced too but then I wouldn't be able to kiss you and I like kissing you." Frank pouted. Gerard smiled.

"I think you'd look cute with whatever piercing's you got."

"Y- Really?"

Gerard nodded, his thumbs tracing circles on the back's of Frank's hands.

"Could we go and get one done now?"

Gerard hesitated, but quickly agreed to the idea; he liked being able to spoil Frank, and if Frank wanted to get a piercing on his birthday, then so be it.

"How much are they? Like, cost?"

"I'm paying-"

"But-"

"No, It's your birthday and I wanna treat you, no buts."

Frank scowled - again - and Gerard just smiled at his reaction, "You can't do that if you've got a nose piercing, it's gonna hurt for a bit."

Frank rolled his eyes, climbing off Gerard and taking the punk's hand, dragging them to the door.

\----

They soon arrived at the tattoo and piercing parlor, Gerard leading them inside as Frank's eyes flitted around nervously.

"Oh, Hey Gerard." A man grinned as they walked through the door, "I didn't see you on the booking list, did you want something doing?"

"No, uh, I'm actually here with my boyfriend-" Gerard trailed off as he realised Frank was no longer next to him. He turned in confusion, spotting the smaller male disappearing around the corner of the shop.

"One minute." Gerard smiled apologetically, turning to leave, jogging to catch up with Frank and grabbing hold of his waist, pulling the smaller male against him.

"What happened belle?" the punk asked quietly.

" 'got nervous-"

"so you left?"

Frank nodded, looking up at Gerard, who smiled softly back down, giving him a squeeze before letting go, taking Frank's hand and leading him back to the store.

"Nice to see you again, Gerard." The man nodded towards Gerard, "and this, I assume, is your boyfriend?"

Frank blushed looking down at his feet.

"So, what can I do for you today guys?"

"Well, Frank here told me he wants to get his nose and lip pierced, that cool with you Bert?"

"Sure thing Ger." Bert grinned, gesturing for the pair to follow him through a doorway, leading out to a small room with a table-looking-bed.

"Okay, Frank you sit tight there-" Bert said, gesturing vaguely to the black bed, and Frank hopped on, giving Gerard a wide, nervous smile. The punk returned the gesture, adding a thumbs up.

Bert turned back to face Frank holding a thin felt-tip in his hand, leaning towards Frank and lightly marking a dot on his nose before holding up a mirror.

"This look okay?"

Frank nodded with a grin and Bert turned back to the small work station, ripping open a package.

"Wait!" Frank blurted out, and Bert looked back over his shoulder, Gerard's gaze also shifting from what Bert was doing to Frank.

"Could you, um, hold my hand?"

Gerard let out a small sigh, nodding and moving to sit next to Frank, lacing their fingers together.

"This may pinch a little, okay?" Bert asked, gently tipping Frank's chin up before placing the needle against his nose, pressing it through then threading the silver ring through the hole and twisting it so it was complete.

He held the mirror up to Frank again, who grinned widely, looking to Gerard excitedly.

"Next one?"

Frank nodded again. The process was repeated, and soon he had two shiny new piercings in his face and was grinning madly.

"Do they look good?" Frank turned to Gerard, who nodded with a smile, pressing a kiss to Frank's cheek.

"They look great."

The smaller male grinned again as they stood up, following Bert back to the counter as he rung up the prices for the piercings.

"That'll be 45 please."

Gerard nodded, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket and handing the money over. Bert had already been over aftercare with Frank - who had listened like his life depended on it - and had also given the smaller boy a leaflet on healing times, etc.

"You ready to go?" Gerard asked, turning back to Frank who's attention was completely taken by the tattoo designs in one of the books also on the countertop.

"Hey that one looks like yours!" Frank exclaimed, completely oblivious of Gerard's previous question and he held the book out.

"Is that the Lady Of Sorrows one?" Bert asked, leaning forwards, trying to see what Frank was pointing at. Gerard nodded, blinking slowly with a small smile on his face.

"Gerard drew that one himself, y'know." Bert spoke nonchalantly, his gaze flickering over to the red-haired punk who shot a glare in Bert's direction.

"Oh, you drew that! That's so cool!" Frank gasped, looking up to Gerard with an expression of awe. The taller male just shrugged, seemingly indifferent to the drawing, bidding Bert a goodbye and turning to leave the shop.

"Have you drawn anything else?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, a couple of things."

"What about people, can you draw people? Oh! Have you got a sketchbook? Can I see it?" Frank's face lit up when he thought about that. Surely Gerard must have a sketchbook, there was no way he managed to get that good without practicing first.

Gerard didn't reply though, he was chewing on his lip, almost nervously, as he drove; his brow furrowed.

"Or, I mean, you don't have to show me anything, I was just curious s'all..." Frank added, a softer edge to his voice, watching as Gerard stopped chewing his lip and slowly nodded.

"I've got a sketchbook... I've got lots of sketchbooks, actually." Gerard let out a small laugh.

"But... They're personal and you'd rather I didn't see them?" Frank added.

"No- I," Gerard hesitated, Frank had actually hit the nail on the head with that explanation, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to show you..." the punk mumbled.

"Oh really?" Frank grinned, his posture straightening slightly and Gerard nodded with a smile. It really couldn't be that bad if Frank was going to get this excited about it.


	23. Angel

Frank giggled to himself. He was curled up on his side with his laptop in front of him catching up on the latest episode of Mock The Week.

He was so absorbed in the show he hadn't noticed that Gerard had slipped into his room, and let out a small squeak of surprise when the punk crawled onto his bed, grinning as he draped an arm across Frank's middle.

"Oh, Gee." Frank breathed, smiling as he craned his neck awkwardly to see his boyfriend.

Gerard didn't reply, he just pulled himself closer to Frank, resting his head on his hand as he propped himself up.

"What'cha watching?"

"Mock the week." Frank mumbled, his attention back on the screen again.

"Didn't know you were into comedies."

Frank stretched himself out, pausing the episode and lying on his back, turning his head to grin smugly up at Gerard.

"You, sir," He said, tapping Gerard's nose, who frowned, "don't know a lot of things."

Gerard raised an eyebrow.

"Well then, tell me one thing I don't know about you."

"You still think my favourite colour is pink-"

"But it's not, it's actually purple." Gerard cut him off with a smirk.

Frank scowled at Gerard, his nose scrunching up as he pouted, but his features soon smoothed out again as he thought, letting out an excited gasp.

"I want to eventually go on to be a pathologist but I didn't take pathology course at uni 'cause I don't wanna restrict myself?"

"Yeah, you took a bio-chemistry course with medicine as your specialised topic."

Frank grumbled something to himself about how good of a listener Gerard was, folding his arms across his chest but suddenly unfolded one of his arms, almost smacking his boyfriend in the face.

"I know! You don't- or didn't until now - know that I play guitar!"

Gerard hummed, he didn't know that Frank could play guitar and his boyfriend had never mentioned it before, he was certain of that.

"And..." Frank started adding, the grin on his face growing, "I used to play in a band in high school."

"Can you play something for me?"

"I- uh, I'm-" the grin vanished and was replaced with a nervous look.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, I was just wondering." Gerard mumbled, lying back on the bed so he was facing the ceiling.

"No, no I can, it's just... I haven't actually played for anyone other than myself in a while, um... yeah." Frank muttered as he pushed himself into sitting position and shuffled to the edge of the bed, quickly padding across his room to the small closet and pushing away the clothes from the side, revealing a gorgeous cherry red guitar, carrying it back over to his bed and sitting down with it across his lap. He blushed vividly when he noticed Gerard watching him so closely, but tried to calm himself down, concentrating on tuning the strings instead.

He then started strumming a g chord lightly, before switching to a cadd9 then d, glancing up at Gerard with a smile as the punk recognised the well known song.

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road-" Gerard started singing quietly.

Frank faltered, but quickly got back into the rhythm. Gerard's voice was like nothing he had ever heard before. It had the same uniqueness as Billie's, but in a totally different way.

"Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go, so make the best of this test and don't ask why, it's not a question but a lesson learned in time-"

"It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right, I hope you had the time of your life." Frank joined in, his voice even softer and quieter than Gerard's, he didn't even like singing in front of people but he really couldn't help himself with this time. They continued the song, unable to contain the smiles despite the sad song, Frank leaning back against Gerard and smiling as he felt the punk's chest vibrating with the soft notes.

"You have a really nice voice." Frank hummed, tilting his head back and looking up at Gerard. The punk frowned, his head tilting slightly in confusion.

"I mean like, it's really calming, I could listen to you talk or sing all day to be honest." Frank shrugged, looking down at his guitar again.

"Oh." Gerard went quiet for a moment before breathing in deeply, signalling he was going to say something, but the words never came.

"What?"

"Aren't we supposed to be visiting your parents today?"

"Shit-" Frank scrambled to get up, discarding his guitar at the end of his bed and hurrying over to his closet, pulling out his black dungarees and the royal blue top, stripping of the clothes he was wearing and tugging the outfit on.

"What are you doing?"

"My parents may be unintentional dicks but I still love them and I don't wanna kill them by looking like a slutty cheerleader... or not today anyway." Frank giggled, buckling up the top of the dungarees and giving himself a quick once over in his mirror before turning back to Gerard.

"Ah-"

"Yep! You ready to go?"

"Guess so." Gerard bobbed his head, shuffling to the edge of the bed and standing up next to Frank, barely gaining his balance before his hand was grabbed and he was pulled from the room and out the front door to his car.

"Someone's excited-" Gerard commented as he looked over to Frank, twisting the keys into the ignition. The smaller male nodded quickly, his hair flying up around his head as he did so.

"Forgive me for asking, but I thought you didn't really like your dad?"

"I don't really but he still supports me educationally and if it makes my mom happy seeing me then he deals with it, so I can't really complain y'know? He loves her a lot so even if he isn't too happy with how I turned out-" Frank gave a chuckle, "He's not gonna say anything."

"Fair enough, it's nice they still love each other though."

"Yeah." Frank smiled, sliding down in his seat slightly, tapping his fingers along his thighs.


	24. Los Padres

Frank jumped out of the car as soon as Gerard pulled up on the familiar driveway, running up to the door and rapping the knocker three times in quick succession, glancing up to Gerard with a wide smile as he reached Frank's side.

"Oh! Franklin, My beautiful boy!" a thick Italian accent spoke as the door swung open and Frank was yanked into a small -not dissimilar to his own height- woman's arms.

"Hi mom." Frank grinned, kissing both sides of the woman's face before pulling back and doing a small sidestep, glancing up to Gerard again.

"Oh, And you are Gerard? I have heard much about you!" The bubbly woman exclaimed, taking Gerard's hand and pulling him into the house, not giving the punk a second to even react to her smiles.

The woman was small in stature, around Frank's height. She had thick, dark - almost black - hair reaching to her shoulders and olive toned skin, the few wrinkles on her skin were scattered around the corners of her eyes and mouth, giving the impression that she smiled a lot.

Gerard glanced back to his boyfriend, catching sight of the smaller male giggling behind his hand, his eyes bright with laughter; he could really see the similarities between the two and he smiled to himself over the small factor.

"You like pasta?" Frank's mom asked, turning to face Gerard again, looking up at him with wide eyes. He nodded quickly, giving her a small smile.

Gerard's hand was taken again and he was pulled into a different room.

"Gerard, my dad, Papa, my boyfriend Gerard."

The man who's Frank's attention was directed towards glanced up over his paper giving Gerard a quick up and down, his eyes fixating on the bright red of the punk's hair for longer than necessary before returning to the black and white pages spread in front of him.

Frank let out an annoyed sigh from besides Gerard, frowning at his father and chewing down on his lip before turning slightly.

"I think food should be ready in a few minutes, you can make yourself at home, try and communicate with him if you really want to." Frank jutted a thumb in his father's direction before sulking out the door, Gerard left behind watching.

"So, you're who my son is dating?"

Gerard's head whipped round to face Frank's father, nodding quickly.

"Yes, Sir, I am."

"Formalities make both you and I sound ridiculous. I'm Frank." The older male, Frank, introduced himself, folding the paper he was holding and setting it down on the coffee table in front of him.

"I- But-"

"Yes my son is called Frank too, runs in the family but I doubt he'll continue the tradition." Frank (Sr) shrugged.

"And, uh, why... why would that be?" Gerard asked tentatively.

"Look at him!" Frank (Sr)'s voice raised slightly, but it wasn't in an unpleasant way and his hand gestured to where Frank was standing in the kitchen, helping his mother with final touches, "Are you really telling me he's going to have kids?"

"He might want to adopt-"

"Yes but do you?"

Gerard hesitated, a light frown settling on his face as the question caught him off guard.

"I- I don't particularly like kids, but I guess we could come to an agreement, and you never know, my opinion of them might change." Gerard said lightly, taking himself off guard with his words. All his life he had insisted that he didn't want kids for the pure sake that he thought they were little gremlins, but now? Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so adverse to the idea.

Frank (Sr) nodded, threading his fingers together in his lap as he watched Gerard, his eyes running over the toned down - for him at least - outfit he was wearing.

"Forgive me for asking, Frank, but I got the impression from your son that you didn't have the... best view on LGBT people?" Gerard asked, wincing at the wording, "So why're you being nice to me?"

"You're absolutely right." Frank (Sr) said, pushing himself up in his chair, "But I was more worried about Frank going off the rails, but you seem like a presentable young man who knows what's going on, and I can't argue with that-"

"Gerard-" Frank (Jr) sang as bounced into the room, nudging Gerard on the shoulder and glancing briefly over to his father, who went back to ignoring the pair.

"You haven't met my babies yet." The smaller boy grinned, rolling his eyes when he heard his father grumble something from across the room.

"Babies?" Gerard echoed in confusion.

"It's what he calls the dogs." Frank (Sr) said from where he was sat. Gerard's mouth opened in a quiet 'oh', it made sense that Frank called his dogs his babies - he talked about them more than parents talked about their actual kids.

"Precisely." Frank snapped his fingers, turning to Gerard, taking his hand and pulling him to his feet and leading him out of the room.

"Sweet Pea- Lois!" Frank sang out as he skipped down the corridor, dragging Gerard behind him, stumbling to keep up. The smaller male suddenly stopped, tapping lightly on a door then grinning at Gerard when he heard a quiet whining from behind it.

"Hey guys!" Frank giggled as he pushed the door open, two dogs running out and bouncing around next to his knees which he knelt down fuss straight away, laughing when the smaller of the two dogs jumped into his lap and licked at his face, it's small paws placed on his chest.

Gerard watched fondly from where he was stood, a smile growing on his face at the joy the two pups brought his boyfriend.

But their joy was cut off when they heard Frank's mother calling them back as the food was ready.

"C'mon guys, you've gotta go back in there-" Frank mumbled, pointing back into the room they'd come from, giving the brown dog a final pat on the head then closing the door and following Gerard back to the dining room.

The couple ended up next to each other, facing Frank's parents with what looked to be a banquet of food in Gerard's eyes laid out in front of them.

"Well! Eat up." Frank's mother grinned, gesturing to the salad and garlic bread in the centre of the table. Frank (Jr) immediately started helping himself, piling the food onto his plate with a wide smile and Gerard didn't think he'd ever seen his boyfriend get so excited about food.

"You want some?" Frank (Jr) asked, holding up the plate of garlic bread, waiting as Gerard nodded and took a slice before setting it down again.

\------

The Iero family and Gerard engaged in pleasant conversation through lunch, talking mostly about what Frank (Jr) had been like during his younger years. He'd secretly been dreading going, worrying that Frank (sr) was going to be a lot more hostile than he was currently being; although, Gerard did notice that Frank's father tended to not engage with his son, and kept the conversation to the very minimal he could when talking to him, which had Gerard frowning on more than one occasion.

"Okay Mama, I promise I'll call." Frank smiled, pressing a kiss to both sides of his mother's face, hugging her tightly. He then let go and turned to his father.

"Papa." He said, nodding his head slightly.

"Franklin." Frank (Sr) returned the gesture, then turning to Gerard and grasping his hand in a tight handshake, his lips twitching upwards into what could almost be a smile.

"Now you take care of my son, okay?" Frank (Sr) said quietly so only Gerard would hear him. The punk nodded quickly before the older man let go of his hand and stepped back, both he and his wife watching as the young couple returned to Gerard's car and pulled away, Frank waving madly at his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so short oops i needed a filler chapter
> 
> but what do you think of Frank's parents? do we like them? do we not?


	25. Bad Guy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> smut warning

Frank had really tried his best to refrain from using the words. Since bringing them up on the morning after their first date and seeing - or feeling - how Gerard reacted, he had decided it was best to wait until he was absolutely certain that Gerard felt the same way. 

And he could have been fooled with how many times he thought Gerard was finally going to say them, but alas, they had gone without.

Sure, Frank had used 'ily' in his texts, but everyone knows that the abbreviation has a vastly different meaning to the full term.

But now; it was Christmas Eve.

Gerard was supposed to be arriving at 8 to pick him up, and then they were going to go back to Gerard's house where he had supposedly made dinner for them both, then they'd go back to Frank's house before waking up the next morning and celebrating the festivities with his housemates.

There was only 4 of them now, one of the students having dropped out as they had become seriously ill from the stress of all the work having coasted from day one then failing their midterms, but Frank couldn't properly sympathise with her since it was really mostly her own fault, and if she needed any help with focussing then she could have just asked.

A ping rang through the room and Frank's gaze focussed on his phone, smiling when he saw it was a text from Gerard letting him know that he was outside. He shuffled off his bed and slipped on a pair of black flats before pulling on a black cardigan and checking over himself in his mirror.

He flounced down the stairs and out of the door, running towards Gerard when he saw the punk leaning against the familiar evergreen coloured car.

"Missed you." Frank mumbled against Gerard's chest, his arms wrapped tightly around his boyfriend's torso.

They hadn't seen each other for almost a week since Gerard's family had decided to take a vacation to Austria to go skiing - or, well, Gerard went snowboarding, but you get the gist.

"Missed you too, belle." Gerard returned.

Oh, and that was another thing; Frank had found that Gerard was incredibly fond of using pet names for him, and often found himself replying to 'sugar', 'honey', and what he was sure to be Gerard's favourite; belle.

And Frank wasn't gonna lie, he absolutely loved being called belle, it made him feel like a Disney princess as well as the fact he got to hear Gerard's French accent too, which was another thing he was found to be absolutely smitten with.

They pulled away from each other, Gerard following Frank round to the passengers seat and pulling the door open, muttering something under his breath.

"Pardon?"

Gerard smiled, letting it a quiet chuckle as he sat himself down in the drivers seat; "that would have been funnier if you asked in French; pardon?" He repeated, but with the accent.

Frank just rolled his eyes, looking at Gerard still wanting to know what the punk had said.

"Fine, fine, I said c'est tu magnifique."

"Huh?" Frank questioned. He didn't speak an ounce of French. He could speak Italian fluently and frequently found himself speaking in said language, and could also speak minimal german and a little Spanish from when he was at high school, but those weren't great.

Gerard just shook his head, smiling to himself as he twisted the keys in the ignition and pulled away from the curb.

They soon arrived at Gerard's house, climbing out of the car and walking through the front door, where Gerard turned to Frank and had him wait in the hallway - well, it was barely a hallway considering it was so big it could have fit four of Frank's bedroom in easily, but that's besides the point.

"Ah, you're back I see." A measured voice spoke from behind him. Frank turned immediately, knowing it was Gerard's mother and he did not want to get on the wrong side of her.

"Yes ma'am, I am, Gerard's cooked us dinner." He said, curtsying and keeping his head bowed before the smaller woman.

"Well, it's nice to see you've got manners at least." The woman said before striding off, Frank didn't know where, but he assumed it was the lounge considering there's only so many rooms that there can be on the ground floor, right?

"Frankie?"

Frank twisted to see Gerard approaching him again, smiling at the taller male.

"C'mon." Gerard gestured, and Frank skipped towards him, linking their hands as Gerard directed him past the kitchen to a door hidden under the stairs. It lead to a thin passageway and opened out into a gorgeous conservatory.

Frank let out a quiet gasp as he looked around. Snow had - and still was - fallen in the surrounding area, coating the garden in a crystal white and giving the room a blueish hue.

It was surprisingly warm in the glass room - considering it was made completely out of glass - and Frank was led towards the table in the middle of the room, thanking Gerard as the punk tucked his chair in and followed suit, facing Frank.

The effeminate male's gaze drifted off around the room again, only to be pulled back by Mikey walking through the door holding two plates. He was also wearing a suit and his hair had been gelled back, making him look like a posh waiter of sorts.

Frank let out an immature snort, glancing between the brothers.

"How much did he pay you?"

"He didn't, he's keeping a secret for me." Mikey scowled at his brother, who smiled innocently back as if it were nothing.

Mikey sat the plates down, muttering a spiteful 'bon appetit' before disappearing again.

"What's his secret?" Frank asked as soon as Mikey was out of sight.

"Mom would have a fit if she found out both her sons liked guys." 

"Wha- I- Oh!... oh! So-"

"Yes. Now, eat your food or it's gonna get cold."

"Did you make this?" Frank asked, looking down at the pasta dish. It was spaghetti carbonara - one of his favourites, and Gerard made it the best in his opinion.

"Yes." Gerard said quietly in answer to Frank's question.

"Mhmm yay." Frank mumbled, more to himself than in reply to Gerard and started tucking into the creamy pasta, grinning up at his boyfriend.

After finishing the meal they stayed in the conservatory for almost two hours, simply talking about anything and everything that they could.

You see, Frank liked to talk, but he only properly talked to people he knew, and Gerard was one of those few completely trusted people, so when Gerard had been gone for a week, Frank had had no one to talk to and- well, you get the gist.

"Well, it's almost 11, you wanna head back to yours?" Gerard asked after a couple of minutes of silence and Frank nodded tiredly. There was a small white sofa against the back wall that they had moved onto and were now curled up on, Frank's head against Gerard's chest.

They walked out to Gerard's car and drove back to Frank's house, parking on the curb just outside the door.

"You wanna watch a Christmas film or should we just go to bed?"

"Uh.. go to bed, we're gonna be up early in the morning y'know." Gerard shrugged as Frank unlocked the door, making their way upstairs and into Frank's room. But just before the effeminate boy could push his door open he was pressed against it, his hand still resting on the handle and his lips being captured by Gerard's.

"Oh!" Frank gasped, tilting his head upwards slightly so they could move closer.

"I-" Gerard started quietly, not moving away and their lips still brushing against each other, "I think love you."

Frank froze for a few seconds as he let the words sink in before his face split into a grin and he kissed Gerard again, "I think love you too."

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

so basically, i wrote this chapter, decided i didnt wanna publish that version and rewrote it. if you wanna read it, message me or comment here or something, but its not getting published

The grin never left his face as he pushed open his door and they tumbled towards his bed - Gerard making sure to kick it closed behind them.

They landed on Frank's bed, Gerard's face mere centimetres from his boyfriend's and he pushed some of the black hair from Frank's face with a fond smile.

"D'you, uh, maybe think, um, we could have-"

"Make love?" Frank spoke over him, gazing up with wide and hopeful eyes.

Gerard nodded, a blush rising on his face at the phrasing.

"Of course! I thought you'd never ask!" Frank giggled, craning his neck to kiss Gerard again, smiling when he felt the punk relax again against him.

Frank slowly rocked his hips up against Gerard's, letting out a quiet moan then pausing, grinning when he saw Gerard's mildly shocked face. He repeated the action, pulling Gerard against him and the punk was soon to be copying Frank's actions, pressing his crotch down against Frank's and letting out gasping moans.

Frank's hands moved down to the front of Gerard's jeans, undoing the popper and unzipping them, slipping his hand under the denim and palming his boyfriend, not breaking the kiss.

Gerard then pulled away, pulling Frank up into sitting position and reaching round his shoulders to undo the zip. Trust the night they decided to have sex was the one where Frank wore his most awkward dress to get off, but oh well.

He shrugged the straps off his shoulders, letting the silky material slide down his torso before lifting his hips up to allow Gerard to pull the dress all the way off, watching with a shy smile as Gerard caught sight of the black lace underwear he had decided to wear.

The taller male pushed his jeans off while he was stood up before reaching out and pulling the fishnets Frank was wearing off too, dropping them in a pile on the floor, his shirt soon following and he crawled back onto the bed, kissing Frank again. 

But that was when Gerard hesitated, they kissed - both just wearing their underwear - but that was all.

"You good?" Frank mumbled, realising that Gerard wasn't moving.

"Yeah, I- uh.. I don't really know what I'm doing um-"

"Oh..." Frank smiled gently, pushing them both up and directing Gerard towards the headboard so the punk was leaning against it, then settling himself in Gerard's lap, cupping his boyfriend's face in his hands and kissing him lightly.

"You can touch me however you want, okay? I'll tell you if I'm uncomfortable." Frank murmured against Gerard's lips, waiting for him to nod before pressing forwards, their bodies completely against each other and he felt Gerard's hands slide up his thighs, coming to rest on his hips.

He could feel how Gerard's fingers messed with the dainty lace, pulling at it and letting it snap back against the flesh before his hands slipped further round and gripped at Frank's ass, pulling the effeminate boy closer to Gerard, both of them letting out breathy moans.

"You can take them off if you want." Frank whispered, his breath hot against Gerard's ear and he kissed messily along Gerard's jawline, his hands ghosting down his boyfriend's bare chest, smiling against the punk's neck when he felt him tugging at the lace again, slipping it over his hips.

"Tear it- I dare you." Frank smirked. Gerard's motions stopped completely before he bunched the fabric up in his fists and Frank could hear the threads snapping, but his focus was soon snatched away by Gerard kissing him roughly, pushing him back so Gerard was on top again and his underwear were discarded somewhere in his room.

Gerard paused again.

"Have your way with me- tie me up- hit me- cut me, lets go doggy, I don't care-" Frank babbled, catching on that Gerard needed encouragement. The punk raised his eyebrows, staring down at Frank with an amused expression.

"Maybe next time, I want this time to be special."

Frank nodded quickly, pressing his body up against Gerard's quickly becoming needy and letting out a short whine, but the noise was cut off by Gerard pressing his fingers against Frank's lips, to which Frank opened his mouth for immediately, sucking on the digits, swirling his tongue around Gerard's fingers and trying to stop himself from smiling from what he knew would be coming.

Gerard pulled his hand away from Frank's mouth then, bringing it down between the smaller male's legs and pressing a finger against the tight rim of muscles, connecting his lips with Frank's at the same moment he pushed through, earning a broken whimper from Frank at the intrusion.

"You okay?" Gerard asked, his lips brushing against Frank's jaw, and then his neck. Frank didn't reply - not directly anyway - instead, he just pressed his body up against Gerard's, rocking his hips down on the punk's finger.

"I- fuck-" Frank breathed, arching his back and cutting himself off with a moan, "I want you."

"You've got me, belle-" Gerard replied confusedly.

"No- fuck- Gee- I want you." Frank gasped, his hand suddenly coming up and palming at Gerard's crotch harshly, earning a yelp of surprise.

"Oh, Oh! Okay, I- um, have you got any condoms or lube or-"

Frank flung his arm out, pointing at the small bedside table and Gerard pulled away, rooting through the top drawer until he found said items, quickly discarding his boxers and kneeling between Frank's legs as he rolled he condom on.

He paused as he looked back up, watching as Frank already had three fingers inside himself and his other hand wrapped around his cock, letting out whiny moans.

"Oh- god, fuck, belle, stop-" Gerard gasped, pulling Frank's hands away and pinning them up above his head. Frank just moaned, pushing up against Gerard in an attempt for some friction.

Gerard just used his other hand to push Frank's hips back down against the bed before lining himself up at the smaller male's entrance.

"Wait!"

Gerard's gaze snapped up, a worried expression on his face.

"No! No, it wasn't you- don't worry, I just- can I put a pillow under my hips? It's just more comfortable y'know?"

Gerard nodded, grabbing a pillow from the top of the bed, passing it under Frank's lower back and letting the smaller male get comfortable.

"You ready now?" Gerard chuckled, leaning back down over Frank, pressing a kiss to his plump lips when the smaller male nodded quickly in return.

Gerard reached down, lining himself up with Frank, pressing his tip to the tight ring of muscle and pushing forwards, watching for any signs of Frank being uncomfortable, but none came; in fact, Frank's face relaxed almost completely until Gerard was just over halfway in, and he suddenly went rigid, his back arching and Gerard fought to stay still as Frank tightened around him.

The punk was just about to ask if Frank was okay when the smaller male wrapped his legs around Gerard and pulled him against him, making Gerard collapse onto Frank from the undiluted pleasure he felt in that moment.

"Oh- Gee- mhh- feel so good-" Frank babbled as he rocked his hips up to meet Gerard's, moaning loudly as he moved. Gerard started moving in time, his movements picking up speed and Frank's moans became shorter and louder, forcing Gerard to try and mute them for fear of one of Frank's housemates walking in. He connected their lips, their bodies sliding together.

"Fuck- Gee- I- I'm gonna- 'm gonna-" Frank whined out before his body writhed, his back arching up and his chest pressing up against Gerard's and the punk could feel the hot cum leaking from Frank's tip, smearing between them and his whole body shook.

Gerard groaned lowly, pressing sloppy kisses down Frank's neck before clamping his teeth down on the soft skin above Frank's shoulder, just past the base of his neck as he rode out his orgasm, Frank whining quietly.

Gerard pulled away, holding himself above Frank for a second before the smaller male shifted uncomfortably, trying to pull away from Gerard, succeeding as he pushed himself into sitting position.

"You- ah- you gonna take that off?" Frank giggled quietly, gesturing to the condom that Gerard was still wearing. Gerard nodded, blushing, sitting back on his heels and pulling off the latex and tying a knot, then tossing it into Frank's bin.

When he turned back, Frank was already curled up at the top of his bed, the duvet pulled back waiting for Gerard to join him.

"I'm just, uh, gonna go to the loo, then I'll be back, mkay?"

Frank nodded tiredly, pulling the duvet over himself and cuddling one of his teddies to his chest. When Gerard returned, Frank was - to no one's surprise - fast asleep.

The punk pulled back the duvet, crawling up next to Frank and wrapping an arm around the smaller male, but Frank surprised him; he turned in his sleep discarding the teddy and tucking his arms up between their chests, letting out a contented sigh when Gerard pulled him closer.

"I love you." Gerard whispered, pressing a kiss to Frank's forehead before letting sleep take him too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> longer chapter bc its kinda cute hope you liked it !


	26. I Hate You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning; mentions of suicide attempt

Frank rolled over the next morning, not expecting to be able to spread out across his whole bed, frowning when he realised Gerard wasn't there.

He pulled his phone off his dresser, going to text the punk but again stopped when he noticed that Gerard's phone was still there too.

"Maybe he's just downstairs.." Frank mumbled to himself, wandering across his room to pull on a Christmas sweater and a pair of black jeans (not forgetting socks and underwear, of course).

He made his way downstairs, giving Maxx a grin as he shuffled into the kitchen, but his face fell again when he realised that Gerard was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey so I was thinking maybe have breakfast and then we could do presents? Does that seem okay to you?" Maxx asked as he turned back to the frying pan, waving the spatula over his shoulder at Frank as he talked.

Frank nodded, distracted by the lack of Gerard near him and chewed on his lip, flicking his piercing with his tongue.

"Have you seen Gerard?" He suddenly blurted out.

"No? I just assumed he was with you, might be in the shower though.."

Frank was quick to leave the room, running back upstairs until he was faced with the bathroom door, but his expression fell further as the door swung open, revealing another empty room.

His head snapped round when he heard a faint buzz from his room and he ran back in there to see Gerard's phone screen lit up. He knew it was wrong to look through Gerard's notifications but he wasn't here and maybe they would tell him where Gerard was.

He picked up the phone, sitting on the edge of his bed as he scrolled down. A message from 'Little Bro' popped up on the screen.

I really hope that you stayed the night at Frank's because otherwise this won't work; Frank if youre reading this, Gerard got in a crash and is in hospital at the moment, [hospital address] i thought you should know. Mikey.

Frank's hand flew up to his face, covering his mouth as he scrambled to pick up his own phone, shoving them both in his front pocket and ran downstairs, skidding to a halt only to pull his battered converse on them continuing through the garage and pulling his bike out. He couldn't afford a car so had resorted to using his bike when necessary, such as now.

He pulled open the garage door, kicking it closed behind him and swinging a leg over his bike, ignoring the weird look he was getting from Maxx from the window. 

Frank peddled as fast as he could until he reached the hospital, dropping his bike in the entrance and running in, looking around frantically until he spotted the rest of the Way family.

Gerard's mom wasn't there, Mikey and his Dad both looked equally upset.

Frank calmed himself enough to walk over, shooting a small smile at Mikey as he sat down, but the younger boy just shook his head, gesturing for Frank to stand up again.

"I need to tell you something, and I swear to God you cannot tell anyone else in my family because they will freak." Mikey said in a low voice as he lead him to one of the corridors leading away from the waiting room, pausing until they were out of sight.

Frank nodded, his hands coming together as he waited for Mikey to continue.

"Gerard's car went of the road and into a tree, he should have died on impact but he didn't and the paramedics don't know why. They first thought it was because he was drunk or on drugs, but neither of the tests came up positive and he hasn't touched either of those since he left high school.

"Frank I- I need you to know that Gerard loves you very much, and he probably wasn't in the right state of mind and it wasn't you that caused this okay?"

Frank nodded again, taking a step back as he waited nervously for the next sentence.

"Frank they think he tried to commit suicide; they think he was trying to kill himself."

Frank didn't know how to react. His expression turned vacant and he crumpled to the floor, his hands coming up to cover his mouth.

"You- They think that he- but why?"

"I really shouldn't be sharing this with you, it's Gerard's story to tell, and if he gets worse, IF, then I will tell you because you deserve to know, but until then, you wait for him, okay?"

Frank nodded, looking down at the floor.

"Come on," Mikey said, his solemn tone softening slightly as he offered a hand down to Frank, pulling the smaller male to his feet again, "I think you're allowed to go and see him if you want." 

Frank nodded again, following Mikey down the corridor until they reached the room where Gerard supposedly was.

"Is this-?" Frank asked quietly, watching as Mikey nodded. He twisted the handle, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

Nothing could prepare Frank for the state Gerard was in. There was a brace around his neck, a bruise covering half his face and cuts covering what little skin Frank could see.

"Gee?" Frank whimpered, moving to the side of Gerard's bed and picking up one of his hands, lacing their fingers together.

"Gee I- fuck, I don't know what to say but I love you so much and, I- shit..."

And with that Frank left the room, a loud sob escaping his lips as he pushed past Mikey who was still stood in the doorway.

"I'm sorry-"

Frank couldn't move fast enough, tears blurred his vision as he ran through the hospital, bumping into multiple people on his way back to the entrance and grabbing his bike on the way out. He knew he was in no fit state to cycle anywhere but he had no other way of getting home and all he wanted was to get away.


	27. You Hate Me

"Frank please, I know you're sad but you've got to come out some time soon."

"Fuck off." Frank yelled back, curling up further into his bed and pulling his pillow up over his head.

He hadn't left his bed in almost three days, and hadn't left the house in two weeks. He hadn't left since he had first seen Gerard after the crash.

His hair had become all matted and greasy - he was pretty sure dreads were forming - and he hadn't had a shower since Gerard either.

He fucking stunk. He was a mess.

"Frank, pl-"

"I said no. Fuck off Jamia." Frank spat, his voice raising as he turned to look at his door before collapsing back into his mattress again in a fit of tears.

He just couldn't understand why Gerard had done that. Why had he tried to kill himself. Why had he left Frank? Why had he done it on Christmas?

Every time Frank even opened up his mind to the possibility that it wasn't his fault, his thoughts battered him back down. He felt like he hadn't stopped crying since the crash and anything could trigger a flood of tears.

A ping resonated through the room and Frank dragged his phone of his bedside table, turning the screen towards himself. It was a text from Mikey saying something about Gerard and him getting better, but Frank didn't care.

Another ping came through, but Frank just ignored it, turning the ringer off and pushing his phone away from him. He didn't want to know anymore.

"Frank? Did Mikey text you? He's got some good news!" Jamia's cheery voice rang through the door

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Frank asked, his voice raising, "Fuck off, I. don't. care." He screamed, his voice cracking and he thrashed on his bed. Why wouldn't that girl understand he wanted to be alone and that he didn't care anymore.

"I-" Jamia's voice hitched, "I'm sorry I just... I thought you'd be excited."

Frank immediately felt guilty. He'd been so wrapped up in himself that he hadn't wanted anything to do with anyone else. He fumbled to his door dragging it open in time to see Jamia disappearing into her own room, wiping away tears with the heel of her hand.

"Wait- Jamia I'm sorry-" Frank croaked, stumbling out of his room after her.

"It's okay, I get it." She gave a weak smile as she paused.

"No, fuck, it isn't, I'm being a dick, and I look and probably smell gross too, but you don't deserve to have to put up with me." Frank stumbled over his words as he came to a stop in front of the girl. He was taken aback when Jamia suddenly stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him as tightly as she could.

"I-"

"No, shh, just hug me back you dumb fuck." She murmured. So Frank complied, wrapping his arms around her.

He wasn't going to lie, he'd missed human contact and couldn't help the tears from escaping.

"Hey, shh, just let it all out," Jamia whispered, rubbing Frank's back as he cried.

"Fuck I'm so sorry Jamia, I-" Frank knew he was about to let it all out and moved away, gesturing back to his room.

"No, your room kind of stinks at the moment."

Frank chuckled through the tears, but led Jamia into her own room, waiting until they were both comfortably seated on her bed.

"Let it all out Frank, what been on your mind?" Jamia asked softly.

"So you know how Gerard got in that crash? Well Mikey told me that they think it was a suicide attempt, I don't know why, and I don't know how they came to that conclusion but that's what they thought. But y'see the thing is, is that Christmas eve was the first time we had, y'know, done something. Like... together.. and that was the closest I've ever felt to him... then to hear that he might have tried to fucking off himself not even a day later? that hurt, that really fucking hurt. Was it something I did? Was I really that bad? I just want answers and I can't get them and I don't wanna seem insensitive when he does wake up and- what?" Frank cut himself off. Jamia had been looking like a fish trying to say something.

"Have you checked your phone? I know you don't really want to see Gerard at the moment but please, just give him a chance? Let him explain or something I dunno-"

"What do you mean?"

"I- just check your phone."

Frank scowled at Jamia as he stood up, leaving the room to get his phone and clicking it on.

idk what your problem is but gerard just woke up and he's asking for you so you better get ur ass over here asap.

The text was from Mikey. The hostility coming off from the fact that Frank hadn't replied to any of Mikey's texts or been to visit the hospital since he had first been there when Mikey had been nothing short of kind and supportive to him.

"Jamia...?" Frank called out.

"If you put your shoes on I'll take you over there right now." Jamia shrugged from the doorway.

"I... I don't know if I wanna go..."

"Man up Jesus, Frank if you don't go there Gerard will come here and you know that, no matter how hard those goddamned nurses try to get him to stay if he wants something, he'll get it."

He nodded, Gerard would do that, so it was better to go and see him on his own terms than to have to be forced to talk when he didn't want to, plus at least if he was in the hospital and he started having a panic attack - as he feared he would - there'd be more than a sufficient number of people around to help him.

You see, Frank didn't cope with his more negative or upsetting emotions particularly well, especially if they were attached to something close so him, so of course seeing Gerard in such a bad state had really thrown him, and even now Frank could feel his chest tightening at the mere thought of his boyfriend.


	28. Let's Set Fire To The Streets

They soon pulled up at the hospital, Jamia bidding him good luck and telling him know that she'd be waiting in her car.

Frank walked through the doors, suddenly feeling very exposed in the public eye as he wandered up to the reception desk.

"I'm here to see Gerard Way?"

"Name?" The receptionist asked, looking up through thick-rimmed glasses.

"Frank Iero."

"Room 258, down that corridor then fifth on your left."

Frank bobbed his head in thanks before following the directions until he came to the room, knocking on the door before pushing it open, only taking one step in before being pushed straight out again by an angry-looking Mikey.

"I swear to God you better have a good reason as to why you haven't been visiting." Mikey hissed before shoving past Frank and leaving the corridor.

Frank pushed the door open again, stepping into the room with a bowed head, almost worried about the site that may have been in front of him.

"Belle?" a voice croaked from the bed. It didn't sound like Gerard and Frank couldn't bear to look up, but forced himself to anyway.

Gerard looked a lot better, he had clearly lost weight and his skin was pale but the bruise had almost completely gone and the cuts were faded looking more like scratches.

"What happened?" Gerard asked, his head tilting to the side but was quickly upright again as his hands flew up, pressing against his temples.

"What do you mean?" Frank frowned, he could be asking the same question.

"I thought you liked to wear girls clothes? Don't tell me I've imagined that too." He frowned, slumping down slightly against the pillows he was propped up against.

"No... no you didn't imagine that..." Frank murmured, moving to sit on the plastic chair to the side of Gerard's bed.

"What do you mean imagined?"

"I... Well I- nevermind, its not important. I liked your clothes, why- what happened to you?" Gerard asked, changing the subject again.

"Long story short I haven't showered or left the house since Christmas." Frank shrugged, fiddling with a thread on his jeans. He had been right about the dreads, and he truly looked awful.

"Oh... Why?"

"I.. uh... I-"

"Was it because of me?" Gerard asked, taking Frank off guard. He nodded, looking down at his lap and chewing on his thumb.

Gerard's hand moved from where it was resting on the bed to pull away Franks hand from his mouth.

"Stop that."

"Huh?"

"You do that when you get... anxious, I think the word is," Gerard explained, "And I don't like it when you hurt yourself."

"Oh."

"Ah, and I should probably add, um, since the accident they said I might have a bit of memory loss... I hit my head pretty hard apparently and uh, they said anything short term- like last couple of months- might be a bit hazy y'know?"

"Oh- So you know that we're-"

"Yes I know we're dating Frankie-" He paused as Frank opened his mouth, "And yes I know we uh," he laced his fingers together, "Y'know.. on Christmas eve."

"Have you actually forgotten anything then?"

"Not that I'm aware of, but come to think of it, I probably wouldn't be aware of it if I had forgotten, y'know? it's not like I'd know that I knew something..."

"Yeah, I guess." Frank giggled.

They were silent for a couple of minutes before Gerard asked, so quietly that Frank thought he had imagined it.

"Aren't you gonna ask why?"

"Huh?"

"Why I did it- I know Mikey told you they think it was, uh- I know Mikey told you."

Frank nodded looking down at his hands, he didn't really know how to reply to that. What Gerard had said was true; he was curious as to what had been going through his boyfriend's mind.

"It's none of my business." Frank said eventually.

"Huh? Everyone- and I mean people I've never even met before- have been noseying around to try 'n figure out why, but the one person I'd willingly tell says it's none of his business? Wow-"

"No! I- I mean it like, it's not my place to be asking dumb questions when you've clearly had your reasons for it y'know? If you wanted to tell me then I trust that you'd tell me but I'm not gonna dig up information you don't wanna give out." Frank shrugged.

Gerard was silent, not saying anything or moving until Frank looked up again, wondering why he hadn't replied.

"Oh, Gee, I didn't mean to upset you-" Frank mumbled, sitting forwards and lightly dabbing at Gerard's cheeks with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"No, no-"

Frank pulled away.

"I think that's the most thoughtful thing anyone's ever said to me." Gerard have a weak smile, "Anyway!" he sniffled, "My nurse said I could go home this afternoon if I wanted since there isn't anything drastically wrong with me."

"Oh," Frank's face lit up, "Really?"

Gerard nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, I thought maybe we could hang out though? Got some catching up to do." the punk suggested.

"Really? You'd wanna-"

"I swear to God, Frank if you're about to ask if I'd wanna spend time with you I'm not gonna kiss you for a month."

Frank pouted, "But-"

"No buts."

Frank opened his mouth, only to have Gerard's hand cover it almost immediately.

"Shh."

Frank blushed, closing his mouth, waiting until Gerard pulled his hand away.

"Don't you wanna spend the time with your family-" Frank cut himself off as he flinched backwards when Gerard's hand came flying out towards him.

"You know I don't like my mom-"

"Yeah but-"

"Frank, she didn't come to see me once-"

"Yeah, but I-"

"You tried Frank, you did come to see me even when you found out what happened, and I get why you didn't wanna come back, hell I wouldn't wanna come 'n see myself in this state, but you tried, she didn't." Gerard said firmly, his voice raising slightly, clearly wanting to drop the subject.

A knock came at the door before it was pushed open, a nurse entering the room with a bright smile and a clipboard.

"Oh, you've got a visitor... I can come back later if you want?" She asked, her cheeks dusting a light shade of pink when she noticed Frank.

"What d'you need?" Gerard asked quietly, pushing himself up on the bed and Frank didn't miss the wince he gave as he did so.

"It's just the report, if you could just read through it and sign at the bottom when you're done reading then you'll be eligible for discharge, Mr Way." The nurse smiled again, turning the clipboard towards Gerard as she spoke, lifting the page and gesturing to a signature line on the third page.

"Oh, sure, yeah I can do that now, thanks." Gerard took the clipboard from her, glancing to Frank and grinning before looking down at the page again, skimming over it. Frank leaned forwards, peering over Gerard's arm to see what was written down on the sheets.

He soon handed the clipboard back to the nurse who let him know that he'd need to sign out at the main reception when he actually left before she left the room, pulling the door closed behind her, but appeared again not even seconds later.

"Will you need a nurse to help you change? I think Kristen's shift starts in a few minutes so I can ask her if you want?" The nurse asked, standing in the doorway.

"No, I'll, uh, I'll be alright-"

"Are you sure? It might be quite hard doing buttons up with both your wrists in casts..." the nurse pushed.

"Yes, I'm sure Lindsey, Frank can help me." Gerard pointed across to Frank, who blushed before shooting a small smile at the nurse.

The girl tilted her head to the side looking between the two in confusion until she let out a quiet gasp, "Oh!... are you-" She gestured between them, blushing brightly when Gerard nodded with a coy smile, and the nurse was quick to leave the room.

"Well..." Gerard looked over to Frank again, a smile toying at his lips.

"Well..." Frank mimicked him, standing up from the plastic chair.


	29. We Ain't Going Nowhere

"Where're your clothes?"

"I think they're on the end of my bed- in that bag..." Gerard trailed off as Frank held up the rucksack for his boyfriend to see before unzipping it and turning it upside-down, emptying the contents onto Gerard's feet, or where he assumed Gerard's feet were under the covers.

"What'd you wanna do first? Like... take of that thing-" Frank gestured to the papery gown Gerard was wearing, "Or do pants... and underwear?" He blushed at the last item of clothing he picked up, dangling them from his finger.

"Are... Are you completely-"

"I'm a free man, Frankie." Gerard grinned, watching as Frank's face turned an even brighter shade of red.

"Anyways-" The punk stopped laughing at his boyfriend, focusing on swinging his legs off the side of the bed, his voice cutting out completely and his face scrunching up in pain as he attempted to do so.

"Gee-"

"I'm fine."

Frank made an unhappy noise, but waited until Gerard had turned himself to a comfortable position, hesitating when he realised that his boyfriend had never answered his question.

"You didn't-"

"This, I wanna take this off first... it's gonna be the hardest part." Gerard groaned, his head hung so his hair covered his face, clearly still in pain.

Frank mumbled a quiet okay, moving to the other side of the bed and climbing on, kneeling behind Gerard and untying the knots running down the back of the gown, his fingers warm against the punk's cold skin. He watched as the papery material fell away, slipping off Gerard's slouched shoulders and more marks were revealed to him, and it was all he could to but bite down on his lip to stop any tears escaping.

Luckily for both of them, the knots stopped just past the waistline meaning Gerard wouldn't have to stand up to get the gown off.

"Your, uh, boxers then...?" Frank asked as he climbed off the bed, watching as Gerard nodded, knowing he would have to stand up for at least part of this.

"Lift your foot up..." Frank said softly, kneeling on the floor and slipping the leg hole over Gerard's foot, "and your other one..." Gerard complied.

"You're gonna have to stand up... can you do that yourself or can I help you?" Frank asked softly. He was fast becoming aware of the fact that Gerard didn't like accepting help of others, no matter the situation it put him in, but one glance up told Frank everything he needed to know.

He'd never seen Gerard look so broken, so helpless and tired as he sat there, his head still hung and the strands of red shadowing his face.

"Okay, just- " Frank moved one of Gerard's arms to be around his shoulders, "lean on me?"

He then hooked his hands under Gerard's arms, helping him into a standing position, pausing for a second to check that his boyfriend wasn't about to collapse. The blue gown fell loosely around Gerard's thighs, but stopped there from how it was resting on the bed.

Frank glanced down, a small smile appearing on his face;

"I don't think that's very appropriate for where we are Gee."

The punk just smiled and shook his head lightly, watching as Frank bent down to pull the boxers up over his legs and up to his waist.

"That's better- oh." Frank cut himself off with a quiet gasp when Gerard pressed a kiss to his lips. It wasn't too dissimilar to their first kiss almost four months prior, neither of them moving much until Gerard pulled away, their faces still incredibly close and he moved to tuck some of Frank's hair behind his ear.

"Thank you."

"I- it's okay." Frank smiled softly, choosing not to question why Gerard was thanking him, "Pants next?"

Gerard nodded, waiting for Frank to retrieve the sweatpants.

"Just, like, hold onto me or something, I don't want you falling over." Frank said as he unfolded the fabric, feeling Gerard's hand slip down to his lower back.

"Okay... Right leg..." Gerard balanced as best he could, "And left..." Frank pulled the elastic waist up to Gerard's, his hands lingering on the soft yet cold skin for a moment.

"Shirt?" Gerard asked, pulling Frank from the trance he was in.

"Yeah... yeah-" Frank mumbled back, more to himself than anything as he fumbled with the black top, straightening it out then slipping it over Gerard's arms and over his head.

"I- uh, Jamia is still waiting outside so we can go now?" He then added, stepping back and picking up the bag with the rest of Gerard's belongings in it.

"I brought a wheelchair if you- oh, you're dressed." A nurse smiled brightly as she pushed through the door but stopped in her tracks as she took in Gerard standing beside his bed instead of being in it.

"Could we use it to get him to the car?" Frank cut in before Gerard could reply.

"Yes, of course, do you need anything else? I can help you get to the car if you need to?"

"I think we'll be alright." Gerard said quietly, sitting back down on his bed, watching as the nurse turned to leave and Frank started packing up the few belongings Gerard had accumulated from around the room.

"You ready?" Gerard asked as Frank did one final scan of the room, giving Gerard a small smile and a nod in reply before swinging the backpack onto his shoulder and moving over to help Gerard into the wheelchair, which he pulled a face about, insisting he could walk and that he'd be fine, but eventually gave in to his boyfriends persistent pestering.

Frank pushed Gerard through the corridors, pausing only briefly to let the receptionist know Gerard was leaving.

"So Jamia's gotta be out here somewhere..." Frank mumbled, more to himself than anyone else as he stopped just outside the entrance doors and scanned the car park.

"Oh, there she is!" He said, pointing to the far corner of the car park, where Jamia was stood leaning against her car, looking like she was playing on her phone.


	30. We Ain't Going Nowhere

With much difficulty Gerard had struggled - with Frank's assistance of course - up stairs and into his boyfriend's bedroom, collapsing onto his bed with pained groan.

"Are you okay? Do you need any painkillers? Can I get you anything?" Frank asked, fluttering by the bedside with an anxious look on his face.

Gerard smiled lightly, his eyes closing slightly as he did so.

"No, I'll be okay, just come 'ere." He mumbled, letting one of his arms spread across the duvet, inviting Frank to come and curl up next to him, pulling the smaller male closer with a quiet sigh, "That's better."

Frank didn't move, he was too scared to, he didn't want to lean in the wrong place and hurt Gerard.

"Relax a little Belle, this side is fine, you've got nothing to be worried about." Gerard then added, fully aware of what Frank was thinking. The smaller male mumbled a quiet okay, resting his head on Gerard's shoulder, his hands tucked up against the punk's side.

\------------

Frank hadn't seen Gerard in almost a week. After staying together for almost two weeks, he'd gone back to stay with his family. Mikey had - albeit begrudgingly - agreed to taxi Frank around when he wanted to see Gerard - which was almost every day- but he only went over when Gerard asked him to. He didn't want to overwhelm his boyfriend, Frank was well aware he had a very undeniable presence that could be considered 'too much' sometimes.

But Gerard hadn't messaged Frank asking him to come over in almost a week, leaving the effeminate boy to worry about his boyfriend. Not as much as before since he was with his family and Mikey would have told him if something bad had happened.

The doorbell's chime rang loudly through the house and Frank pushed himself out of bed with a groan, pulling one of Gerard's massively oversized t-shirts over his head and deeming himself presentable for whoever was at the door.

He tried the handle, grabbing his keys and unlocking the door when it didn't open, pulling the door open and stepping into the now open doorway only to almost be taken out as he was completely smothered by a person, their arms slipping under his own and lifting him off the ground.

"Gerard?" Frank asked, catching sight of the bright red hair, "Oh my god Gerard!"

He let out a small squeal, wrapping his arms around the taller male and hugging tightly.

"I'm sorry Belle, and I- I wanna open up to you, I know I'm quiet but I- I wanna change that. I love you." Gerard mumbled against Franks neck, where his face was pressed against, still holding on tightly.

"Really?" Frank asked quietly, fearing he'd misheard the last part.

"Yes, I don't wanna hide anything anymore-" Gerard offered a weak smile as he finally loosened his grip on Frank, letting the smaller boy drop back to the floor. One of his wrists was still in a cast, but the other was fine, and any lingering marks of faded bruises seemed to have disappeared.

"No- no, I mean, yeah that's great, but... you love me?"

"Of course I do belle, I thought I already told you I loved you... y'know just before Christmas when we-" Gerard trailed off, watching as Frank blushed at the memory with a small smile.

"Yeah... I remember... I just- I- never mind." Frank stuttered, shaking his head and turning to walk back into the house, letting the punk follow him.

"Oh, wait, I just need to grab something from my car-" Gerard mumbled, backing out the doorway again, breaking a short jog to the deep green coloured car and producing a soft pink and sparkly bag with little love heart on it, bearing an embarrassed smile as he held it out to Frank when he reached the door again.

"What's this?" Frank asked, taking the bag and peering in before looking back up to Gerard.

"Just open it."

"Oh, okay, should we go upstairs?"

"Yeah, sure I guess, after you?" Gerard gestured to the staircase, shutting the door behind him. Frank nodded, slipping his hand into the punk's with a shy smile before leading him up the stairs and into his bedroom, jumping onto his bed and landing cross-legged on his bed with a grin, the bag sat in front of him as he waited for Gerard to join him.

The punk sat on the edge of the bed, leaning back as he watched Frank pull away the tissue paper, revealing a small stuffed bear with a silky bow tie around its neck.

"Awh," Frank blushed, hugging the bear to his chest before holding it out again with a stifled smile.

"I dunno, you like that kind of thing right?" Gerard shrugged, clearly trying to seem indifferent to the situation but the blush on his face was evident enough for Frank to lean across, planting a kiss on his boyfriends cheek and grinning widely.

"I love that kind of thing."

He let out a giggle as he watched Gerards reaction, the punk smiling but quickly trying to hide it.

"Aw, Gee, it's okay to be embarrassed," Frank's soft laughter subsided and he crawled over to where Gerard was sitting, straddling across the punk's thighs and holding up the bear with a tiny smile.

"Mr Cuddles doesn't like it when you get embarrassed, he wants you to know no one's ever gonna judge you here." Frank said, waving the bear's arms around as he held it up.

Gerard cracked a smile, "Mr Cuddles?"

Frank blushed again, looking down at the bear before back up to Gerard and nodding, biting down on his lip softly.

"It's cute, you don't have to be embarrassed, no one's gonna judge you here." Gerard repeated Frank's words, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist and pulling the smaller male closer, pressing a light kiss to Frank's lips before pulling away.

Frank scowled, his nose scrunching up as Gerard turned his own words against them.

"You're really annoying sometimes, but I guess I'll have to deal with that." Frank mumbled, his hands trailing up Gerard's arms until they were resting on the punk's shoulders. He rocked forwards, pushing the both of them back against the duvet, their lips pressed tightly together, not an ounce of air entering their systems as they both pulled messily at each other, wanting to be as close as physically possible to each other in that moment.

Nothing about it was sexual, they both craved the closeness, the heat soaking off the other, dragging fingers and hands everywhere they could reach before returning back to delicately cup at the face they were so close to.

"I- fuck, I love you too Gee."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so that was the last chapter of Pretty Boy (you make me want to live) i hope you all enjoyed reading it as much i did writing!
> 
> i am planning on publishing a sequel (called Verbrenn die Hexe (which will come into it's own as the story unfolds, i promise)) which will hopefully have the first couple chapters up soon !
> 
> It still will very much revolve around Frank's life, but this time with a little twist as an important member of Frank's family passes, he is left with a gift so great he is unsure how to handle it, putting an immense stress on his life from the lack of guidance from the one person he could truly trust.


End file.
